Progressive enhancement in Rails with REST
This article presents a method for enhancing a user interface built with Ruby on Rails to show a link to a RESTful operation if Javascript is available or a form button if not.
Deploying static sites with Capistrano
Capistrano is a tool for automating tasks on remote servers via SSH. It simplifies the process of application deployment and maintenance by allowing you to wrap up a number of repetitive tasks into succinct Capistrano commands (called tasks).
Because Capistrano sprung from the Ruby on Rails community its default operation is designed for Rails applications. However, with a few small changes it can be used to deploy anything.
This article describes how to use Capistrano 2.5.1 to deploy non-Rails web sites, such as static HTML or PHP sites.
Don't trust user submitted data
If you’re writing an application that takes user input, you must sanitise the data before you use it. If not, you leave your application open to abuse.
A good example, which I’ll use to illustrate this article, is SQL injection. This is a well known exploit whereby lazy programming allows an attacker to manipulate database queries for their own means.
The article focuses on PHP with MySQL, though the issues are relevant whatever language and database are used.
Markdown vs Textile for writing about web development
Typo Theming
Typo is a blogging platform built on Ruby on Rails. It supports theming to change the look and feel of the site. Many themes are available to download from typogarden, or you could write your own.
This article will explain how to create a theme for Typo 5.1.3. It will help if you have a basic understanding of how Rails serves web pages, via its ActionPack framework.
Welcome
Welcome to the Brighternet Articles.
I will be posting articles related to the work done by Brighternet, for the purpose of documentation and enlightenment. Most articles will be about web development, though over time I hope to cover a wider variety of topics.
Enjoy!