StringFoo :: Web Development Resources » Tutorials

Google’s New HTML5 Resource Site

sstringer — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 13:03:38 +0000

Not to be outdone by Apple's recent launch of their HTML5 playground, Google has launched their own HTML5 Developer Resource site called HTML5Rocks.com. The site has some useful tutorials and an interactive sandbox, but for the time-impaired, they also have an excellent presentation that shows you quickly what is new and different. As with most things Google, it's not the prettiest site, but it gets the job done. Check it out.

HTML5 Demos & Tutorials

sstringer — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 10:05:56 +0000

Apple has just launched an effort to support more widespread adoption of HTML5 in the developer community. This page showcases a bunch of cutting-edge demos, and this page digs into the demos more deeply and provides more resources to learn how to develop features using HTML5.

Standards aren’t add-ons to the web. They are the web. And you can start using them today.

Is DropBox the Free Replacement to MobileMe We’ve Been Waiting For?

sstringer — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 16:36:27 +0000

Dropbox [link] is a highly recommended service that lets you share large files amongst different groups and machines that I’ve written about before [here]. MobileMe is a very not-free service that provides marginal utility for Mac users. If you’re like me, the only reason to use MobileMe on a daily basis is to keep my [...]

Tutorial: Launching MAMP Silently on Startup

sstringer — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 11:04:09 +0000

MAMP is a great tool for running and managing a development server when you require more than the basic PHP configuration included with Leopard. However, getting the web server to run typically involves launching MAMP, entering your root password, and quitting MAMP. This tutorial walks through the simple steps needed to launch MAMP silently on startup so that you do not have to enter your root password every time.

Integrating the iPhone SDK Simulator into Dreamweaver

sstringer — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 14:43:56 +0000

Are you doing iPhone development on a Mac? Do you use Dreamweaver as your IDE? If your answer to both questions is 'yes,' then try this simple tip.

Tutorial: Starting Subversion on Startup

sstringer — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 15:12:00 +0000

Honestly, I can't remember if Subversion came pre-installed on Tiger or not, but I know for a fact that it does come as a standard component on Leopard. This is great news.

One small issue, though, is that there is not a way in the OS X UI to have Subversion start up when your computer boots up. This tutorial will help you set up a launch daemon that will fire up Subversion silently when your computer boots up.

Tutorial: Enabling Root Access in OS X (Leopard)

sstringer — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 14:35:08 +0000

By default, the root account is disabled in OS X. If you are a developer new to the platform, you will be needing to access many things that are available only with root access. This tutorial walks you through the process of enabling the root account in Leopard (OS X 10.5).

NOTE: This guide is specific to enabling root access on Leopard, OS X 10.5. To learn how to enable root access on Tiger (10.4), follow these instructions instead.

Enabling Root in Leopard:

Open the Directory Utility: In the Finder, navigate to the Utilities folder (tip: click on the desktop, hit Cmd+Shift+U).
Click on the padlock to allow edits.
Go Edit > Enable Root Password
Enter and re-enter your password.

Now, you are set to access protected areas of the system via the terminal.

Tutorial: Using TextWrangler to Edit Your Protected System Files

sstringer — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 15:00:22 +0000

If you are a web developer, you undoubtedly have needed to edit a system config file from time to time. Your choices in the terminal are nano, and ...well, nano. If you happen to have BBEdit installed, then you can use that as well. However, BBEdit costs $125, which is pretty steep if you just need a text editor.

This tutorial walks you through setting up TextWrangler, a free text editor from Bare Bones Software, to edit your system files. I also walk you through setting up an Automator action to open protected documents quickly.

Setting up a Web Server on Leopard (OS X 10.5) and Snow Leopard (10.6) Using MAMP – A Step by Step Guide (Revised)

sstringer — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 16:26:28 +0000

Recently, I wrote a Step-by-Step guide for installing a basic development server on Mac OS X Leopard (10.5) using the built-in packages. It turns out that the version of PHP that is packaged with Leopard is missing many commonly used components such as the GD Library, MCrypt, and many others. Since recompiling PHP on Leopard is no small feat even for experienced developers, you may be looking for an alternative method to get your web server working.

This tutorial provides a step-by-step walktrhough for begineers or advanced users to set up MAMP on their local version of Leopard.

Revision Notes 02/03/08 Several readers have kindly pointed out some errors in the guide that follows. I've updated this article to correct some (all?) of these mistakes/omissions.

Setting up a Web Server on Leopard (OS X 10.5) or Snow Leopard (10.6) Running PHP, Apache, and MySQL – A Step by Step Guide

sstringer — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 23:31:00 +0000

This walkthrough provides a step-by-step guide to setting up a development web server on your Mac running Leopard (OS X 10.5). Once set up, you will be running an Apache web server that supports multiple virtual hosts, PHP, MySQL, PEAR, and phpMyAdmin.

UPDATE: Since posting this tutorial, I have learned that the stock installation of PHP does not include several critical libraries. After several days of experimenting, I finally landed on MAMP as my production solution. I have published a walk-through for setting MAMP up on your machine [link].