Will Fitch’s Blog

I have developed a new version of the zip code web service. This new service offers much more functionality than the previous, including 100% document-literal WS-I/WSDL 1.1 compliancy and SOAP 1.1 and 1.2 capabilities.

Along with this, a Java, PHP, .NET and Ruby SDK will be developed so that you only have to worry about making class calls rather than interfacing with SOAP and the network. I will also be increasing the number of elements returned from 300 to 500.

This new service will require that you register your application (domain only, no login) so that I can get an idea of the usage of this service. Your data will not be shared/sold to anyone, I just want some statistics.

Read the rest of this entry →

A web service is a way for systems to communicate over a network. They can be as simple as an API (e.g. Google Maps) or as complex as a brokered system that handles transactions for multiple requesters and/or providers.

Web services bring with them some huge advantages. Data is packaged via HTTP or HTTPS and can usually bypass firewalls since port 80 and 443 are commonly allowed open. This plays a big role where intranet systems need to communicate but have a very strict set of firewall rules. An example might be an Oracle DB link needing to reach a MySQL server. Typically this is a daunting task as you have to go through the bureaucracy of getting the proper ports opened, get added to one or more access-controlled lists, receive/provide access privileges at the database level, etc. Then there is the issue of direct access to data, either by view, table or procedure; the list goes on and on.

Most of these problems can be eliminated by the use of web services. This article’s objective is to explain, at a high-level, when, why and how web services are used.

Read the rest of this entry →

The Zend Certification Exam is a step in the right direction for PHP developers looking to enhance their resume and prove their skills. It is becoming accepted by recruiters worldwide and in some cases, demanded by corporations seeking employees. Achieving this certification is no easy task, though. It requires working experience with PHP, as well as the technologies associated with it.

The test consists of 70 questions and you have 90 minutes to complete them. You may skip between questions and revisit those that you skipped. You will likely finish the examination in 30 to 45 minutes (purely personal experience), so take the other half and check your answers.

Read the rest of this entry →

PHP 5.3 introduces a much requested feature for object-oriented programmers: namespaces. At the time of this writing, version 5.3 of PHP was in development, but is planned on being released in the near future.

One of the purposes object-oriented programming is to remove ambiguous development and data access items. This basically means identifying common functionality and creating the most reusable framework possible, typically in the form of classes. When creating this functionality, you will begin to have issues with naming conventions and narrowing down functionality even further. To resolve this scoping issue, namespaces allow you to contain those bits of code even more.

Read the rest of this entry →

With the increasing use of web services and communications via HTTP, XML has become an industry standard for sending and receiving data among systems. Every language seems to have multiple ways to parse XML, each more complicated than the other. This presents a problem for developers.

The majority of the time, developers need to read/write XML files without complex features such as advanced namespacing and XSD validation. It seems that opening an XML file, reading and using the content takes forever as you constantly need to reference hundreds of pages of documentation, Google examples of each method or function in the documentation; it never ends.

Since the release of PHP5, SimpleXML has been available for creating and editing XML files or strings. Don’t let the name fool you, it doesn’t represent the simplicity of its capabilities. It does, however, mean the implementation of this extension is simple! PHP has other XML capabilities such as DOM, XMLWriter and XMLReader in the event you need those advanced features not offered by the native SimpleXML extension.

Read the rest of this entry →

I have finally got my new servers! I am still in the process of configuration, but this is the basic setup:

1. Web / Mail Server
   • Dual-core Xeon 2 GHz
   • 8GB of RAM
   • RHEL 5 64-bit
2. Database Server
   • Dual-core Xeon 2 GHz
   • 2GB of RAM (I know, it will eventually get upgraded)
   • RHEL 5 64-bit

This is especially important to me so I can increase my web services. Free data is always better than free software!

The zip code web service will be under maintenance until April 3rd. I am completing a total overhaul on my blog, so please hang in there with me.

This is a simple tip to keep your Linux box’s clock up-to-date (quite literally). Using your ntpdate program, set a cron for say 30 minutes to sync your time with a NTP server.

30 * * * * /usr/sbin/ntpdate -s ntp-2.mcs.anl.gov

The above server is available to US machines, and requires an email notification for usage as do most. Click here for a more complete list of NTP servers.

I have completed the major functionality to the SOAP integration of the zip code services. The following methods can be used to get the data you need:

1. getDistanceByZip - Get the distance from one zip code to another
2. getZipsByRadius - Get GPS information within (X) miles of a zip code
3. getLocalTime - Get the local time for a zip code

I am going to describe each function in depth, and give examples of each in a few languages.  If you have suggestions to this service, feel free to contact me using the contact form.

About the Service

This web service is provided absolutely free.  Please don’t abuse this.  If requests start getting out of hand and bringing my server to its knees, I will start limiting the number of queries per user per day.  I don’t want to do this, but I do like my server actually serving :).

It is an RPC style web service, as it really isn’t complicated and is limited to a very specific audience.  It’s also easier for developers to use and understand in comparison to document-literal.

Read the rest of this entry →

2007 marks the third anniversary of the Zend/PHP Conference and Expo. Focused on the fastest growing web development language, this year’s conference is guaranteed to be the best ever.