Here is another web application framework written in PHP.

WASP is a "powerful web application framework built on PHP5". It is object oriented, and strives to be suitable for enterprise class applications with less code.

What is interesting is that  WASP uses Drupal to power its site. 

Resources

•  ONLamp article on WASP.

Some time ago, I ran across this lengthy humor article on how to write unmaintainable code.

Look at this gem:

Capitalisation
 
 Randomly capitalize the first letter of a syllable in the middle of a word. For example ComputeRasterHistoGram().
 

How many times did you see this CamelCase notation in code on Words? Too many times!

I was recently approached by a client who wanted a custom Drupal module.The module was supposed to be a clone of Drupal's "Who's New" and "Who's Online" modules, but with user defined input. The specifications were that would be an admin defined list of users, and the module will select some of them at random. There would also be a user defined list of how many users to show online at a certain time (how many registered users, and how many guests). In other words, it would give a fake sense of the site being a very busy one.I politely told the person who requested this module that this amounts to deception. Their answer was it was like the opening day of a restaurant when it is packed with guests, but all of them are really relatives and friends of the owner who invited them for the opening night.

One technology that has been getting good reviews and lots of attention laterly is Ruby On  Rails (RoR). It is a Rapid Internet Application Development framework that is  easy to use and really fast to write applications in.

One of the drawbacks is that it requires the Ruby programmng language, which although powerful, is less widespread than other languages, and hence not available at most web hosts. 

Now there is CakePHP, which is supposed to be Ruby On Rails but for PHP, the most widely deployed web development language. CakePHP follows the Model-View-Controller architecture, and  provides basic  CRUD (Create, Read,  Update, Delete) operations. Of course, it is fully object oriented, just like RoR is.

A question that often arises as an objection to Open Source software is: How can I make money from software if I am giving it away for free?Let us start by a few news items first.Techworld reports that the German National Railway has successfully migrated 55,000 users to Linux. The roll out was overseen by IBM.Reuters reports that in Extremadura, Spain, 14,000 medical professionals will be given access to a system that is based on Open Source software. This is also an IBM contract for 33$ million.