gLog

This past weekend I designed, coded, and deployed an application to track my progress with the C25K running program. I looked at several products that are already out there for this purpose but couldn’t really find anything I liked. Most of them are heavily ad supported and a bit clunky to use. They also try to be all things to all people and, since I’m obviously not all people, I need something different.

I’ll eventually post some screen shots, and more detailed project information, but I at least wanted to describe some of the tools I’m using for this project.

Code Igniter

The truth is I spent about 13 hours on this but three were spent trying to get a feel for CakePHP. I wanted to use an MVC framework and had heard good things about Cake. But after working through their tutorial, reading a good portion of their somewhat poor documentation, and trying to start coding my application I decided to abandon it and look for something else.

I first heard about Code Igniter about a year ago and thought I’d look it up again. I’m glad I did. Within about two hours I had the basic pieces of the application working. They have excellent documentation and look to have an active community.

XML/SWF Charts

A data-driven graphical display of my progress is a key feature for this project. I need to see the progress I’ve made and the goal I’m trying to attain. I also like playing with charts.  Again, excellent documentation was a deciding factor for my choice of XML/SWF Charts.  You can use a free version but I think it ’s worth the cost of a license.  Good software components deserve compensation.

Blueprint CSS

Since I had limited time over the weekend, most of it was spent in development.  The little design I did was primarily control and content layout.  That’s where Blueprint CSS really shines.  With little modification I was able to implement the layout I needed in a short time.  I’m not sure I’ll stick with it but it definitely helped out in a pinch.

Posted in: Web Design & Development