Joe Lennon

The second part of my IBM developerWorks series on getting started with Dojo development was published yesterday. This part focuses on Dojo’s class-based object-orientation features, which help make JavaScript OO a little more bearable for traditional class-based OO developers with backgrounds in the likes of Java and C++.

The Dojo toolkit enables web application developers to create Rich Internet Applications by offering a wide variety of features that save development time and effort. From DOM helpers and Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (Ajax) to a full-blown widget library and object-orientation features, Dojo includes virtually everything you need to build large-scale Ajax-powered web applications. If the functions you are looking for are not included in Dojo itself, it’s likely that you can find them in DojoX, a repository of extensions and experimental features that are not included in the Base or Core modules of the toolkit. In Part 2 of this three-part series on developing rich web-based applications using the Dojo toolkit, you will learn about JavaScript’s object-orientation features, and how they differ from a traditional class-based object-oriented programming language. You will then see how Dojo bridges this gap by offering a class-based system of its own.

Object-oriented programming (OOP) is a software development paradigm that is based on the definition of data structures called objects, which consist of data properties and functions. These properties (member variables) and functions (or methods) define the potential interaction that a piece of software can perform with that object. The primary benefit of OOP is that it helps with code re-use and maintenance by making it easier to organize your code.

Read the full article on IBM developerWorks: http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/library/wa-ground2/

My latest developerWorks was published earlier this week. This is the first of a 3 part series on the Dojo JavaScript framework. Part 1 of the series is titled “Dojo from the ground up, Part 1: Getting started with Dojo development” and covers the basics of working with the Dojo toolkit. Part 2 covers Dojo’s excellent object-orientation features, and Part 3 covers the Dijit user interface component library. Parts 2 and 3 will be available in the coming weeks.

The Dojo toolkit enables web application developers to create Rich Internet Applications by offering a wide variety of features that save development time and effort. From DOM helpers and Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (Ajax) to a full-blown widget library and object-orientation features, Dojo includes virtually everything you need to build large-scale Ajax-powered web applications. If the functions you are looking for are not included in Dojo itself, it’s highly likely that you can find them in DojoX, a repository of extensions and experimental features that are not included in the Base or Core modules of the toolkit. In this article series, learn how to develop Dojo-powered applications from the ground up, covering the basics, Dojo’s great object-orientation features, and the Dijit user interface library. By the end of this series, you will be well prepared to develop Dojo applications of your own.

Dojo was created in 2004 to make the process of developing DHTML and JavaScript web applications easier, hiding much of the cross-browser inconsistencies that are prevalent in modern web browsers. This enabled the focus to be placed on implementing functions rather than tweaking code to make it work on every browser. Dojo is owned by the Dojo foundation, which was founded in 2005 by Alex Russell and Dylan Schiemann. Dojo is open source software (OSS) and is available under a dual-license (you can pick which one you want to adhere to) with both the Academic Free License (AFL) and a modified BSD license available.

Read the full article at IBM developerWorks: http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/web/library/wa-ground/index.html

Since the World Wide Web emerged in the early 1990s, HTML has evolved to become a relatively powerful markup language, which, when backed up by its close partners JavaScript and CSS, can be used to create visually stunning and interactive Web sites and applications. This tutorial serves as a hands-on introduction to HTML5 and CSS3. It provides information about the functionality and syntax for many of the new elements and APIs that HTML5 has to offer, as well as the new selectors, effects, and features that CSS3 brings to the table. Finally, it will show you how to develop a sample Web page that harnesses many of these new features. By the time you have finished this tutorial, you will be ready to build Web sites or applications of your own that are powered by HTML5 and CSS3.

Over the past ten years or so, concepts such as Web 2.0, Rich Internet Applications (RIAs), and the Semantic Web have all pushed HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to and beyond their limits, often relying on plug-ins such as Adobe® Flash to power components such as video and audio, as well as highly graphical and interactive applications. The Adobe Flex development framework, Microsoft®’s Silverlight platform, and JavaFX have all looked to provide support where HTML’s weaknesses made developers’ lives difficult. With HTML5, however, the markup language is striking back, with full multimedia support, local storage and offline application support, a native 2D drawing API, and a host of new application development APIs, all provided with the intent of proving that HTML, CSS, and JavaScript can provide a rich front end to your Web sites and applications.

Read the tutorial at http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/web/tutorials/wa-html5/

GrabMyTable is a new website that aims to provide visitors with access to customer reviews for restaurants across Dublin. It is elegantly designed and very simplistic in terms of what it displays to the visitor. Finding restaurants can be quite tedious however, unless you know the name of the restaurant you are looking for. You cannot browse by cuisine, for example, or find restaurants in a certain price range. Worst of all, you can’t see restaurants by area or location. Although I understand the minimalist approach the site owners are trying to take, it’s almost a bit too minimalist to be all that useful. There is no way of booking a table and there is no rewards scheme, like the one offered at rival site Menupages.ie. The nail in the coffin for me is that the site only lists Dublin restaurants.

Pros:

• Elegant Design
• Quick Sign Up
• Lots of Restaurants
• No ads

Cons:

• Dublin only
• Lack of Information (Opening Hours, Website, Facilities)
• Poor Navigation
• No bookings or rewards scheme

Score: 6/10

Visit GrabMyTable

On a previous iteration of my blog I wrote an article on the different Irish companies that offer shared web hosting services. Many people have asked since about this article and I said I would put it back up once I got my blog sorted out. As I have decided not to port over my previous blog posts, I decided to create a new version of this guide.

The services offered and prices listed in this article were taken directly from each service provider’s website on Wednesday, 10th December 2008 at 8:51pm. The providers are listed in alphabetical order. All prices include VAT @ 21.5% unless otherwise stated. I have listed prices per month where a monthly price was available. In cases where a monthly price was not available, I have quoted prices per year.

If you want your company to be added to this list, or if any of the information I have listed below is incorrect, please leave a comment on this post and I will update it.

Blacknight Solutions

Website URL: http://www.blacknight.com/
Sales Email: sales@blacknight.ie
Sales Phone (Ireland): 1850 929 929
Sales Phone (UK): 0844 484 9361

Blacknight offer three shared hosting packages. All of these packages offer a choice of Linux or Windows operating systems, and offer MySQL 4/5, PostgreSQL 7 and Microsoft SQL Server 2005 databases. Their Minimus package allows up to 30 databases, Medius allows 60 and Maximus allows 90. PHP support is included, and .NET 2.0/3.5 support is there on Windows packages.

Minimus (€6.01 per month) – 10gb disk space, 100gb/mo bandwidth, unlimited email accounts
Medius (€10.87 per month) - 20gb disk space, 200gb/mo bandwidth, unlimited email accounts
Maximus (€18.16 per month) - 30gb disk space, 300gb/mo bandwidth, unlimited email accounts

Darklite-SCE

Website URL: http://www.darklite.ie/
Sales Phone (Ireland): 021 436 9317

Darklite-SCE offer Linux and Windows web hosting. All of their plans come with MySQL databases included, and their Windows Business and Windows Enterprise include a Microsoft SQL Server database also. On their Linux platforms PHP and Perl is supported, and on their Windows packages is support for .NET 2.0.

Personal (€4.80 per month) – 200mb disk space, 3gb/mo bandwidth, 100 email accounts
Basic (€15.19 per month) – 500mb disk space, 10gb/mo bandwidth, 250 email accounts
Business (€30.38 per month) - 1gb disk space, 20gb/mo bandwidth, 500 email accounts
Enterprise (€42.53 per month) - 5gb disk space, 50gb/mo bandwidth, 1000 email accounts

Digiweb

Website URL: http://hosting.digiweb.ie/
Sales Email: hosting@digiweb.ie
Sales Phone (Ireland): 1800 941 000
Sales Phone (UK): 0800 196 6436

Digiweb offer four shared web hosting packages, with prices varying from €24.29 per year to €364.49 per year. With the exception of the Starter Hosting package, all of Digiweb’s hosting plans offer a choice of Windows or Linux operating systems, PHP and MySQL support on Linux, and ASP.NET and Microsoft SQL Server 2005 support on Windows. There is no option to pay monthly for the StarterHosting or AdvancedHosting packages.

Starter Hosting (€24.29 per year) – 10gb disk space, 30gb/mo bandwidth, 50 email accounts
Advanced Hosting (€48.59 per year) – 15gb disk space, 100gb/mo bandwidth, 250 email accounts
Business Hosting (€12.14 per month) - 20gb disk space, 150gb/mo bandwidth, 500 email accounts
Enterprise Hosting (€36.44 per month) - 30gb disk space, 250gb/mo bandwidth, unlimited email accounts

Host.ie

Website URL: http://www.host.ie/
Sales Email: sales@novara.ie
Sales Phone (Ireland): 1850 668 272

Host.ie (a division of Novara.ie) offers six different shared hosting plans. Three of these are Linux-based packages, and three are Windows-based packages. The Linux packages feature support for PHP and Perl, and in the case of the Business and Professional variants, also include 5 and 10 MySQL databases, respectively. Their Windows packages feature ASP.NET 2.0 support and Microsoft SQL Server 2000 database support is an optional extra on the Business and Professional variants (though MySQL databases are included with these packages, as per the Linux packages). If you choose to pay for a Host.ie package on a monthly basis, a setup fee will apply. At the time of writing, there appeared to be no option to pay monthly for Linux packages listed on their website.

Linux Basic (€121.49 per year) – 150mb disk space, 3gb/mo bandwidth, 150 email accounts
Linux Business (€242.99 per year) – 300mb disk space, 5gb/mo bandwidth, 300 email accounts
Linux Professional (€364.49 per year) - 500mb disk space, 8gb/mo bandwidth, 500 email accounts
Windows Basic (€12.14 per month) - 150mb disk space, 3gb/mo bandwidth, 150 email accounts
Windows Business (€24.29 per month) - 300mb disk space, 5gb/mo bandwidth, 300 email accounts
Windows Professional (€36.45 per month) - 500mb disk space, 8gb/mo bandwidth, 500 email accounts

HostIreland

Website URL: http://stresa.hostireland.com/
Sales Email: sales@hostireland.com
Sales Phone (Ireland): 1800 925 262

HostIreland have two hosting packages on offer – the Clubman and the Business Premier. HostIreland’s plans run on Linux servers and feature PHP and Perl support with unlimited MySQL databases included in both hosting packages. HostIreland’s website only shows prices per year.

Clubman Plan (€115.36 per year) – 1gb disk space, Bandwidth not specified, 100 email accounts
Business Premium Plan (€182.19 per year) – 1gb disk space, unlimited bandwidth, 100 email accounts

IEInternet.com

Website URL: http://www.ieinternet.com/
Sales Email: sales@ieinternet.com
Sales Phone (Ireland): 01 280 5000

IEInternet.com have four hosting plans available, three of which run on Linux servers along with a single Windows-based option. IEInternet do not quote any prices per month on their website. PHP and Perl are supported on all three of their Linux plans, and MySQL databases are included with their Business and Application plans. The Windows plan includes support for ASP and support for Microsoft SQL Server databases. There are no SQL Server databases included with the plan, however – these are available as an optional extra.

SOHO (€138.51 per year) – 20mb disk space, 1gb/mo bandwidth, 1 email account
Business (€291.60 per year) – 100mb disk space, 2gb/mo bandwidth, 20 email accounts
Windows (€291.60 per year) - 50mb disk space, 2gb/mo bandwidth, 1 email account
Application (€554.04 per year) - 250mb disk space, 4gb/mo bandwidth, 100 email accounts

IrishDomains.com

Website URL: http://www.irishdomains.com/
Sales Email: sales@irishdomains.com
Sales Phone (Ireland): 1800 366 246

IrishDomains.com offer four Linux-based shared hosting packages. All of their packages offer PHP and Perl support. Their Business 10, Advanced 15 and Developer 25 packages all come with unlimited MySQL databases. MySQL is an optional extra on the Starter 5 package. At the time of writing, there did not appear to be an option to pay on a monthly basis.

Linux Starter 5 (€181.04 per year) – 1gb disk space, 10gb/mo bandwidth, 50 email accounts
Linux Business 10 (€241.79 per year) – 2.5gb disk space, 15gb/mo bandwidth, 100 email accounts
Linux Advanced 15 (€363.29 per year) - 5gb disk space, 20gb/mo bandwidth, 150 email accounts
Linux Developer 25 (€606.29 per year) - 10gb disk space, 25gb/mo bandwidth, 250 email accounts

LetsHost.ie

Website URL: http://www.letshost.ie
Sales Email: sales@letshost.ie
Sales Phone (Ireland): 1890 719 461

LetsHost.ie offer one main shared hosting packages, the Lets Host “Complete” Plan. This hosting plan is offered on a Linux platform and includes PHP support, SSH access and unlimited MySQL databases.

Lets Host “Complete” Plan (€9.60 per month) – 12gb disk space, 100gb/mo bandwidth, unlimited email accounts

MyHost.ie

Website URL: http://www.myhost.ie/
Sales Email: sales@myhost.ie
Sales Phone (Ireland): 061 749 922

MyHost.ie offer four shared web hosting packages, two Personal oriented plans and two Business oriented plans. All of MyHost.ie’s plans are available on either a Windows or Linux platform. Depending on your OS choice, standard features include PHP and Perl support (Linux) and ASP.NET support (Windows). All packages comes with MySQL databases, and the Windows Personal Pro, Business Basic and Business Pro plans all come with Microsoft SQL Server databases included. The Personal Mini plan does not have an option to pay monthly.

Personal Mini (€60.69 per year) – 500mb disk space, 5gb/mo bandwidth, 25 email accounts
Personal Pro (€17.62 per month) – 3gb disk space, 50gb/mo bandwidth, 300 email accounts
Business Basic (€22.48 per month) - 5gb disk space, 75gb/mo bandwidth, 150 email accounts
Business Pro (€36.45 per month) - 10gb disk space, 100gb/mo bandwidth, 300 email accounts

Register365

Website URL: http://www.register365.com/
Sales Email: sales@register365.com
Sales Phone (Ireland): 1890 944 500
Sales Phone (UK): +44 1905 342 333

Register365 offer four shared web hosting packages. These are split into two Windows hosting packages and two Unix hosting packages. Their Windows packages feature unlimited MySQL, PostgreSQL and Microsoft SQL Server databases, and include support for ASP.NET 2.0 and PHP on an IIS6 web server. Their Unix packages offer unlimited MySQL and PostgreSQL databases with support for PHP and Perl on an Apache web server. Their Enterprise packages include a dedicated IP address.

Windows Business (€4.80 per month) – 5gb disk space, 50gb/mo bandwidth, 250 email accounts
Unix Business (€4.80 per month) – 5gb disk space, 50gb/mo bandwidth, 250 email accounts
Windows Enterprise (€12.09 per month) - 10gb disk space, 100gb/mo bandwidth, 250 email accounts
Unix Enterprise (€12.09 per month) - 10gb disk space, 100gb/mo bandwidth, 250 email accounts

SpiralHosting.com

Website URL: http://www.spiralhosting.com/
Sales Email: sales@spiralhosting.com
Sales Phone (Ireland): 01 657 1821
Sales Phone (UK): 028 9002 5008

SprialHosting.com offer five shared web hosting packages, each with support for PHP, Perl and Ruby on Rails. Their packages include between 2 and 20 MySQL databases. Their Size XS plan does not have a monthly payment option.

Size XS (€30.00 per year) – 1gb disk space, 10gb/mo bandwidth, 125 email accounts
Size S (€8.00 per month) – 2gb disk space, 20gb/mo bandwidth, 250 email accounts
Size M (€19.95 per month) - 4gb disk space, 40gb/mo bandwidth, 500 email accounts
Size L (€29.95 per month) - 8gb disk space, 80gb/mo bandwidth, 1000 email accounts
Size XL (€39.95 per month) – 12gb disk space, 120gb/mo bandwidth, 2000 email accounts

WebHost.ie

Website URL: http://www.webhost.ie/
Sales Email: sales@webhost.ie
Sales Phone (Ireland): 01 494 8034

WebHost.ie offer shared web hosting packages on a Windows Server 2003 platform. All WebHost.ie’s packages feature a dedicated IP address, ASP.NET 3.5 support, PHP and Perl support, MySQL and Micorosoft SQL Server 2005 databases.

Budget Hosting (€10.81 per month) – 600mb disk space, 10gb/mo bandwidth, 300 email accounts
Basic Hosting (€18.10 per month) – 1.2gb disk space, 15gb/mo bandwidth, 400 email accounts
Business Hosting (€24.18 per month) - 1.8gb disk space, 20gb/mo bandwidth, 500 email accounts
Professional Hosting (€30.25 per month) - 2.5gb disk space, 25gb/mo bandwidth, unlimited email accounts

Web World

Website URL: http://www.webworld.ie/
Sales Email: sales@webworld.ie
Sales Phone (Ireland): 01 495 1112

Web World offer four shared hosting packages, including from 25 to 100 MySQL databases, PHP, Perl and ASP.NET support. Microsoft SQL Server 2000 database support is available as an optional extra. If you want to pay monthly for a Web World hosting package you will need to pay a €15 setup fee.

Value (€4.80 per month) – 25gb disk space, 25gb/mo bandwidth, 250 email accounts
Enterprise (€12.09 per month) – 50gb disk space, 50gb/mo bandwidth, 500 email accounts
Business (€18.16 per month) - 75gb disk space, 75gb/mo bandwidth, 750 email accounts
E-Commerce (€24.24 per month) - 100gb disk space, 100gb/mo bandwidth, unlimited email accounts