Keith Cirkel, a contractor in frontend web development, shares his expertise in the industry; including JavaScript, HTML, browsers, backend technologies and server-administration
What to expect from a world without IE6.
It’s no secret that developers across the globe resent Internet Explorer. It’s disregard for standards are a burden, often requiring a parallel development effort just to cater for its inadequacies. Newer versions aren’t much better, and in some cases exacerbate the problem. This year saw Internet Explorer 6 drop below 10%, and Google has dropped support for it; and (perhaps most importantly) the upcoming release of Internet Explorer 9, what can we expect to see changing?
XHTML: Why everyone wants it but you shouldn’t use it
Everyone is asking for it these days. Go onto freelance boards, talk to clients, even on job boards, clients & companies are requiring their developers to know XHTML. The problem is, XHTML isn’t what everyone thinks it is, and that isn’t going to change any time soon.
Swapping out your LAMP stack
The LAMP stack is the backbone of the web these days - every hosting provider uses it, sometimes exclusively. Many think their only other option is a WIMA (Windows, ISS, MSSQL, ASP) but in fact there are a whole wealth of options to choose from. When you have the freedom to pick your own server environment, should you move away from LAMP? It’s certainly a tried and tested platform, many of the top websites of the world use it - but why? How can it be improved? Well, you might be surprised to find out the different choices you have available…
