Development Tools

That make money!

by Joey Novak

An overview of the tools I use to just get crap done!

Introduction - Joey Novak 

  @thejoeynovak, joeynovak.com, web2.0goodies.com

I specialize in custom Infusionsoft integrations.  Which frequently involve wordpress.

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I love to make things. 

• Catapults / Trebuchets
• Camping Stoves
• Interesting Cars
• Potato Cannons
• Replica Working Civil War Cannon
• Useful Software

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Random Facts About Me

• Eagle Scout
• Received Customer Compassion award twice, Rowan award (got to drive the h3 for a month), MVP twice, and Master Chief while at Infusionsoft.
• Really good at javascript
• High School Drop Out 
• I've broken 3 bones while mountain biking (two separate accidents).
• LDS

Why don't we always do what's best?!?

It's a human trait that we get emotions caught up in the decision making process. 

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Emotions are part of being human.  The key is to find a balance between prideful arrogance, and Vulcan logic.

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The Pragmatic Programmer

Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition centered on the linking of practice and theory. It describes a process where theory is extracted from practice, and applied back to practice to form what is called intelligent practice. 

The importance of good tools.

Two different pipe wrenches.  A modern one 

you can buy at any home improvement store, 

and an antique Trimo one.  The antique is of a

better design, has a spring, and sharper teeth

making it possible to use one handed, where 

as the modern one requires two hands.

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Combination Honda Crank Pulley Holder, 

Cheater Bar, and Forget Me Stick.  Definitly 

not an effecient tool, but I still use it because 

of the good memories (emotional)

My Last Great Epiphany - DIY doesn't usually save me money anymore.

Sewer Backup

• A Day of Digging
• One $110 Metal Detector
• One $35 USB Endoscope
• Two days without showers
• Another Day of Digging
• Hours of trying to use the useless Endoscope

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Calling rotor rooter and paying $400 to have them show me the blockage, and exactly where to dig...  Priceless.

Hardware

• The Obvious
• Fast Computer (i5, i7?)
• Lots of memory (6GB+)
• Dual monitors

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• Not So Obvious
• Small SSD Drive (external?)
• Build time at Infusionsoft dropped from 12 minutes to 3 minutes.
• Good keyboard
• Good mouse
• Comfortable Chair
• Good Headphones

ditto

AWESOME, Easy to use, clipboard history tool.  Saves me probably 10 - 20 min per day.

Uniserver - Develop Locally!

• Compact
• No Installation
• Works Great
• Includes most (?) php extensions, they just need to be enabled.
• Nice admin interface

run.php, phpminiadmin.php and downthemall (ff plugin)

run.php

• Provides Shell Access when all you have is ftp
• Use it to zip / tar up an ENTIRE SITE for one quick download.
• My favorite command 
• tar zcvf ../../../all.tgz ../../../
• Produces an all.tgz file of a wordpress install when uploaded as a plugin.

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downthemall

• Opens multiple connections to download a file.  Allowing really fast downloads when time is critical. (2gb all.tgz file generated with run.php in 10 min sometimes?)
• Don't use on HIGH traffic sites.

phpminiadmin.php

• Ultra Compact (1 file)
• Use it to export databases

These 3 tools allow me to copy a site to my local dev environment in about 10 minutes.

IDE - My Favorite is PHP Storm

• Easy to use
• Real time debugging
• Fast
• Supports basic refactoring
• Code Completion
• Ctrl+Click code navigation
• Built in php documentation.
• Function definition on hover
• Most used functions for me.
• Ctrl+Shift+F - Global Find
• Ctrl+Shift+R - Global Replace
• Ctrl+Shift+N - Find / Open File With Name
• Ctrl+Alt+L - Reformat Selected Code (or whole file)
• Alt+F8 - Open Expression Evaluator While Debugging

Debugging

XDebug - PUTS ERROR MESSAGES IN YOUR FACE

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Must get proper XDebug for your PHP Binary

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Allows for real time

debugging.

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Get an XDebug

  Helper plugin for 

  your browser.

Automate Deployment - winscp / github or repositoryhosting.com hooks / bash scripts scripts.

I have found that many launch errors / bugs are due to a complicated deployment process.  I always automate this.  Once you've done it a few times, it takes just a few minutes to do.  

Still looking for the right mysql db schema deployment tools.

SnagIt and YouTube - Say good bye to written documentation!

I never create written documentation anymore.  It's always videos, and my clients always love it.

Share non-public videos with clients using the "Unlisted" option in YouTube. 

Freshbooks

I sent out my end of month Invoices for Jan '12. In just 15 minutes 2 clients had paid their invoices.

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Makes it EASY for your clients to give you their money.

Phone home on error - Amazon SES

Automatically phoning home on error allows you to proactively fix errors before your client even notices.

I recommend a server that collects these error reports (similar to syslog) and emails you when an error occurs, but with a max email of one every 5 minutes.

Havn't developed this yet, but it's coming...

Questions?