dnews

√app«dnews

Web Developer News

Using PHP and MagpieRSS to present Dynamic News Feeds

In my ongoing quest to demonstrate how the resources I review using the drx application are both pragmatic and worthwhile, I present RSS News feeds for Web developers from a number of different sources, and in several categories. I tweak this list often, so stay tuned. Suggestions are also welcome.

Although wrapping dnews as an application object took a little work, the engine behind actually fetching the news items is the MagpieRSS PHP feed parser (via Expat). Magpie supports RSS 0.9x, 1.0, 2.0 and most Atom format feeds. Installing and getting it working was incredibly easy. The Magpie library is very simple to use, but be warned of the old adage “garbage in = garbage out,” meaning pick your sources carefully and check them out by hand before plugging the results into your own pages. This is especially important if you are using XHTML like I am, or you can easily break your site.

On the bright side, since the results are cached, once an update is fetched (by anyone, not necessary you), the items are displayed very quickly. Not only does this improve the quality of the user’s experience, it is also good practice in order to avoid hammering your sources with requests.

On an even brighter note, I spent approximately one afternoon implementing this application. In addition to MagpieRSS, Feedview and the RSS Feed Validator were also very useful while developing dnews. Enjoy.

By popular demand, I have published a document which describes how this application was built. Visit the Howto MagpieRSS tutorial for more information.

RSS Channel Selector

Developer Buzz

1. It's cold outside

You're gonna catch a cold From the ice inside your soul Christina Perri — Jar of Hearts I bet at four o'clock this morning you weren't in a police station. Or, at least, if you were I bet you were drunk and I bet it wasn't voluntary. After the usual Friday night poor showing from my local pub (people who follow me on twitter will be aware that...
Published: Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:48:10 GMT
URI:http://www.artima.com/forums/flat.jsp?forum=196&thread=340067
2. mechanize 2.1.1

mechanize version 2.1.1 has been released! mechanize.rubyforge.org github.com/tenderlove/mechanize/tree/master The Mechanize library is used for automating interaction with websites. Mechanize automatically stores and sends cookies, follows redirects, can follow links, and submit forms. Form fields can be populated and submitted. Mechanize also...
Published: Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:48:10 GMT
URI:http://www.artima.com/forums/flat.jsp?forum=196&thread=340064
3. Running 32-bit JavaFX 2.1 Beta SDK On 64-bit Ubuntu 11.10

[Update Fri Feb 3 21:59:05 CST 2012] I started this blog a few days ago with the goal of playing JavaFX videos on 64-bit Ubuntu Linux. It turned out to be a longish post. So I&#039;ll just put the result here at the top, showing one of the video playing JavaFX 2 program at work. (This is an example from the upcoming Apress book Pro JavaFX 2...
Published: Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:48:10 GMT
URI:http://www.artima.com/forums/flat.jsp?forum=196&thread=340062
4. Informatikerjobs sind da - man braucht keine Hohlkammerpla...

Bin 25, Diplomwirtschaftsinformatiker und habe während der fünf Jahre meines Studiums freiberuflich und selbstständig nebengejobt. Habe sechs Bewerbungen geschrieben &#8211; im ACH so schlimmen NRW (schrecklich, wie manche Menschen einfach faul sind, sich aber über den Staat aufregen. Man muss keine hochwertigen Hohlkammer Wabenplakate...
Published: Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:48:10 GMT
URI:http://www.artima.com/forums/flat.jsp?forum=196&thread=340060
5. net-http-persistent 2.4.1

docs.seattlerb.org/net-http-persistent github.com/drbrain/net-http-persistent Manages persistent connections using Net::HTTP plus a speed fix for Ruby 1.8. It&rsquo;s thread-safe too! Using persistent HTTP connections can dramatically increase the speed of HTTP. Creating a new HTTP connection for every request involves an extra TCP round-trip...
Published: Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:48:10 GMT
URI:http://www.artima.com/forums/flat.jsp?forum=196&thread=340057
6. Vim syntax highlighting for LESS

There's a pretty good vim syntax file for the LESS dynamic stylesheet language but it has a minor issue with font properties. Groenewge's syntax file on github seems to be the best version. It makes use of any existing CSS syntax files you have including the one that ships with Vim. However, because the LESS syntax is more rich than pure CSS,...
Published: Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:48:10 GMT
URI:http://www.artima.com/forums/flat.jsp?forum=196&thread=340055
7. DarkOrbit - some information

If you want to have a great time playing an online game and exploring a new world, look no farther than DarkOrbit. This is a game that will satisfy the experienced gamer and the new player alike. It has fun and excitement, exploration and warfare, modifications and journeys. DarkOrbit is a game that has a read more &#187;
Published: Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:48:10 GMT
URI:http://www.artima.com/forums/flat.jsp?forum=196&thread=340053
8. Programmierung - Es ist angerichtet

Also ich war damals gerade beim Zerlegen einer Festplatte als es eine Spinne wagte über den Tisch zu krabbeln, da fragte ich mich was den Weg dieser Spinne wohl bestimmen würde, was sie antreibt, und wie viele Zeilen Code nötig sind um eine Spinne zu programmieren. 10000? 100000? Auf welche Situationen muss sie reagieren können? read more &#187;
Published: Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:48:10 GMT
URI:http://www.artima.com/forums/flat.jsp?forum=196&thread=340051
9. Autos? - Sonnen-Laser für Magnesium-Motoren

Mini ist Trumpf oder was? Exakt. Mit Spielzeugautos funktioniert es super. Mit großen Autos so lala. Mit Schwerlastlokomotiven beschissen und mit großen Schiffen überhaupt nicht. Wäre doch für Schwerlastlokomotiven und Schiffsmaschinen viel besser. Kein Platzproblem, die Abwärme könnte effektiv genutzt werden; Magnesium-Rückwandlung vor...
Published: Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:48:10 GMT
URI:http://www.artima.com/forums/flat.jsp?forum=196&thread=340049
10. State of Agile survey for 2011 tells a familiar story

One particular chart in the State of Agile survey for 2011 tells an familiar story. Have a look.
Published: Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:48:10 GMT
URI:http://www.artima.com/forums/flat.jsp?forum=196&thread=340047
11. 5 hot specialties for software developers

Want to escape the outsourcing axe? Today's IT trends are creating lucrative niches for ambitious developers.
Published: Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:48:10 GMT
URI:http://www.artima.com/forums/flat.jsp?forum=196&thread=340045
12. 20 Database Design Best Practices

Use well defined and consistent names for tables and columns (e.g. School, StudentCourse, CourseID ...). Use singular for table names (i.e. use StudentCourse instead of StudentCourses). Table...
Published: Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:48:10 GMT
URI:http://www.artima.com/forums/flat.jsp?forum=196&thread=340043
13. Develop an environment-aware Maven build process

Including environment variables in your Maven build process could boost your team's efficiency at every stage of the software development lifecycle. Java developer Paul Spinelli demonstrates his custom approach to environment-aware Maven builds.
Published: Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:48:10 GMT
URI:http://www.artima.com/forums/flat.jsp?forum=196&thread=340041
14. Another aspect of coupling in Object Oriented paradigm

I had previously written a post related to coupling and cohesion here and that was more of a basic definition of both the terms. In this post I would like to throw some light on the tight...
Published: Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:48:10 GMT
URI:http://www.artima.com/forums/flat.jsp?forum=196&thread=340039
15. Programming Opa: Web development, reimagined

MLstate's Opa streamlines Web app development with a single language for client and server, but the bright promise is not without pitfalls.
Published: Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:48:10 GMT
URI:http://www.artima.com/forums/flat.jsp?forum=196&thread=340037