Comments on: The PEAR book http://www.phpied.com/the-pear-book/ Stoyan's blog about (x)html, ajax, bookmarklets, browsers, css, firebug, javascript, json, mdb2, mysql, pear, performance, php, phpbb, tools, yslow, yui, writing, music,... life and everything. Sun, 11 May 2008 23:47:18 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.1 by: phpied.com » Blog Archive » Performance tuning with MDB2 http://www.phpied.com/the-pear-book/#comment-42542 Sat, 09 Dec 2006 21:01:26 +0000 http://www.phpied.com/the-pear-book/#comment-42542 [...] This is a follow-up to Lars' comment about the PEAR book. In the MDB2 chapter I showed an example how you can create custom debug handlers in MDB2 and then gave a suggestion about a useful application of this functionality for performance tuning. Basically the idea is that your custom debug handler collects all queries that are executed during the life of a given script. Then, once the script finishes execution, the debug handler reports the stats that it has collected. In the book, the example is how you count the number of times each distinct query is executed, this way you can spot problems caused by the OO abstraction. For example, say you have a come class Users that has a method loadUser(), which abstracts the database work. While debugging with the custom error handler, you might figure out that without noticing, you're calling this method in a few places and it makes the same repeating query(queries) over and over again. So you can now optimize/cache results and so on. [...] […] This is a follow-up to Lars' comment about the PEAR book. In the MDB2 chapter I showed an example how you can create custom debug handlers in MDB2 and then gave a suggestion about a useful application of this functionality for performance tuning. Basically the idea is that your custom debug handler collects all queries that are executed during the life of a given script. Then, once the script finishes execution, the debug handler reports the stats that it has collected. In the book, the example is how you count the number of times each distinct query is executed, this way you can spot problems caused by the OO abstraction. For example, say you have a come class Users that has a method loadUser(), which abstracts the database work. While debugging with the custom error handler, you might figure out that without noticing, you're calling this method in a few places and it makes the same repeating query(queries) over and over again. So you can now optimize/cache results and so on. […]

]]> by: Lars Olesen http://www.phpied.com/the-pear-book/#comment-41022 Wed, 29 Nov 2006 23:43:22 +0000 http://www.phpied.com/the-pear-book/#comment-41022 Cannot wait to read more about the matters in your blog. You guys are brilliant :) Cannot wait to read more about the matters in your blog. You guys are brilliant :)

]]> by: Stoyan http://www.phpied.com/the-pear-book/#comment-40950 Wed, 29 Nov 2006 14:56:36 +0000 http://www.phpied.com/the-pear-book/#comment-40950 Thanks Lars! I'm glad you like the book. As for the custom debug handler, I think there is an example that shows the value - the thing that counts how many times each query is executed. The example that I used is something I came up some time ago while doing performance optimizations on a site. Back then the project was using PEAR::DB and there were no custom debug handlers, so I had to hack its code a bit. When I tried MDB2, I liked the fact that you can do the same by using API provided by the package and without the need of modifying its code (easier for future updates, etc) Thanks again for your kind words about the book, I'll try to address both of your suggestions in blog posts. Thanks Lars! I'm glad you like the book.

As for the custom debug handler, I think there is an example that shows the value - the thing that counts how many times each query is executed. The example that I used is something I came up some time ago while doing performance optimizations on a site. Back then the project was using PEAR::DB and there were no custom debug handlers, so I had to hack its code a bit. When I tried MDB2, I liked the fact that you can do the same by using API provided by the package and without the need of modifying its code (easier for future updates, etc)

Thanks again for your kind words about the book, I'll try to address both of your suggestions in blog posts.

]]> by: Lars Olesen http://www.phpied.com/the-pear-book/#comment-40875 Wed, 29 Nov 2006 06:01:38 +0000 http://www.phpied.com/the-pear-book/#comment-40875 Read more in your book, and learned a lot. However, it is to bad that you on page 39 where you just explained how to set a custom debug handler to mdb2 only mentions the idea to prefix every select statement with explain and not show how to do it. The custom error handler has little value as it doesn't add anything to the standard error handler. Perhaps a blog post about it :D Read more in your book, and learned a lot. However, it is to bad that you on page 39 where you just explained how to set a custom debug handler to mdb2 only mentions the idea to prefix every select statement with explain and not show how to do it. The custom error handler has little value as it doesn't add anything to the standard error handler. Perhaps a blog post about it :D

]]> by: Lars Olesen http://www.phpied.com/the-pear-book/#comment-40639 Tue, 28 Nov 2006 03:36:56 +0000 http://www.phpied.com/the-pear-book/#comment-40639 Just bought your book. Great reading. But working with dates, I would have liked you to cover the conversion of dates from a timestamp in a database to the internationalized date for instance in a form and taking it back again. I think many developers struggle with precisely that aspect. -- Lars Olesen Just bought your book. Great reading. But working with dates, I would have liked you to cover the conversion of dates from a timestamp in a database to the internationalized date for instance in a form and taking it back again. I think many developers struggle with precisely that aspect.

–
Lars Olesen

]]> by: phpied.com » Blog Archive » Personal news update Nov/06 http://www.phpied.com/the-pear-book/#comment-28045 Thu, 02 Nov 2006 16:44:19 +0000 http://www.phpied.com/the-pear-book/#comment-28045 [...] So what I've been up to recently? Having a bit of a break, I guess. First, I'm not currently writing a book, after the last one for which I completed my chapter back in June. That's some free time (There is a very exciting book project on the horizon though, we'll see). Then, I'm not working so much on our new house. Now (August) that my family is back from Bulgaria, and the two little princesses are running around, it's next to impossible to do any construction work, however small. [...] […] So what I've been up to recently? Having a bit of a break, I guess. First, I'm not currently writing a book, after the last one for which I completed my chapter back in June. That's some free time (There is a very exciting book project on the horizon though, we'll see). Then, I'm not working so much on our new house. Now (August) that my family is back from Bulgaria, and the two little princesses are running around, it's next to impossible to do any construction work, however small. […]

]]> by: Amy Stephen http://www.phpied.com/the-pear-book/#comment-20831 Fri, 20 Oct 2006 16:43:10 +0000 http://www.phpied.com/the-pear-book/#comment-20831 Stoyan - I meant to link you to Seth's article on wikipedia where I mentioned your book. Not my silly article. :) I am here testing out your coComment recommendation - way cool. Stoyan - I meant to link you to Seth's article on wikipedia where I mentioned your book. Not my silly article. :) I am here testing out your coComment recommendation - way cool.

]]> by: Amy Stephen http://www.phpied.com/the-pear-book/#comment-20562 Fri, 20 Oct 2006 01:55:15 +0000 http://www.phpied.com/the-pear-book/#comment-20562 Stoyan - You guys are ***SO*** cool! So, my link count is going up! Do you have any idea why? LOL! I am so enjoying it. Thanks, Stoyan, for taking me on your adventure! :) Did you find the link I left on Seth Finklestein's blog for your book? Seth linked to a silly little article I wrote on the Walmart fake bloggers ( http://tinyurl.com/y55lam - wow, huh? lol!). So, I was reading his articles, which are, of course, amazing. He has an article about wanting to get *out* of the Wikipedia. So, in my comment, I mentioned your book and how Pear might be able to help him. ;-) Hope everything is turning out great with your book! Talk to you later, Amy :) Stoyan - You guys are ***SO*** cool! So, my link count is going up! Do you have any idea why? LOL! I am so enjoying it. Thanks, Stoyan, for taking me on your adventure! :)

Did you find the link I left on Seth Finklestein's blog for your book? Seth linked to a silly little article I wrote on the Walmart fake bloggers ( http://tinyurl.com/y55lam - wow, huh? lol!).

So, I was reading his articles, which are, of course, amazing. He has an article about wanting to get *out* of the Wikipedia. So, in my comment, I mentioned your book and how Pear might be able to help him. ;-)

Hope everything is turning out great with your book! Talk to you later, Amy :)

]]> by: Stoyan http://www.phpied.com/the-pear-book/#comment-19656 Tue, 17 Oct 2006 15:30:33 +0000 http://www.phpied.com/the-pear-book/#comment-19656 True, Fabian, you're right. This book is more centered around something like working with (and displaying of) data, hence the covered packages - MDB2, DataGrid, Excel, PDF, XML, Web services. But you're right, PEAR can always use more documentation and how-to-s on popular and/or interesting packages. True, Fabian, you're right. This book is more centered around something like working with (and displaying of) data, hence the covered packages - MDB2, DataGrid, Excel, PDF, XML, Web services. But you're right, PEAR can always use more documentation and how-to-s on popular and/or interesting packages.

]]> by: Fabian http://www.phpied.com/the-pear-book/#comment-19646 Tue, 17 Oct 2006 14:54:51 +0000 http://www.phpied.com/the-pear-book/#comment-19646 This looks like a great book and I will most probably order myself a copy... However, I would have liked to see articles about some IMHO more popular/important packages like e.g. "Auth", "Mail", "Cache/Cache_Lite". For interesting classes like "Live_User" there is also a lack of documentation on the PEAR site, so it would have been nice to see these packages in the book. :-( But otherwise: great work! This looks like a great book and I will most probably order myself a copy… However, I would have liked to see articles about some IMHO more popular/important packages like e.g. "Auth", "Mail", "Cache/Cache_Lite".

For interesting classes like "Live_User" there is also a lack of documentation on the PEAR site, so it would have been nice to see these packages in the book. :-(

But otherwise: great work!

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