Newsflash

Windows Vista took longer to arrive than hoped, and it might not have everything that was once planned, but Windows chief Jim Allchin maintains "It's a big deal."

And, more than five years after the debut of Windows XP, Vista is finally ready--at least, for businesses willing to buy at least five copies of the operating system. Those companies can get it starting Thursday, while consumers and those looking to get a Vista-equipped PC will have to wait until January.

For those who have been tuning out all the Vista chatter for the last few months, here's a primer on the new Windows. The update has security improvements, some snazzy new graphics and new desktop-searching abilities, among other features.

So is Vista really here?
After months of issuing community preview versions, beta versions and release candidate versions, Microsoft has finally declared Vista soup.

Large businesses can start getting Vista through volume-licensing contracts as of Thursday, while CompUSA is selling licenses to smaller businesses that purchase at least five copies of Vista. However, consumers and those looking to get new PCs with Vista installed will have to wait until the mainstream launch in January.

What if I buy a new PC now? Will it still run Vista?
Microsoft is offering an "Express Upgrade" program that runs through early next year. It offers those who buy an XP machine now a free or discounted copy of Vista, once it starts shipping to consumers.

There's still the question of how Vista-ready the PC is. Microsoft is using two logos to help consumers get a sense of that. Some machines are billed as "Windows Vista Capable." A PC with that logo will be able to run Vista, but that sticker does not guarantee the computer will have enough graphics horsepower and other components needed to run all of the operating system's new features. Those who want to guarantee that should look for the shiny "Vista Premium Ready" logo.

So what's in this Vista thing?
Vista--which used to be called Longhorn--has evolved quite a bit since Microsoft first demonstrated an early version in 2003. The company has dropped plans to include its all-new WinFS file system. It has also changed the way it's implementing a new Web services architecture, known as Indigo, and a new graphics engine, dubbed Avalon.

Among the key features of Vista as it currently stands are: security enhancements, a new searching mechanism, lots of new laptop features, parental controls and better home networking. There will also be visual changes, thanks to Avalon, ranging from shiny translucent windows to icons that are tiny representations of a document itself.

On the business side, Microsoft said Vista will be easier for companies to deploy on multiple PCs and that it will save costs by reducing the number of times computers will have to be rebooted.

Vista includes antispyware tools, Internet Explorer 7, an update to its Web browser, as well as Windows Media Player 11. It also has Windows Calendar, a new systemwide tool designed to do for datebook information what Outlook Express does for e-mail in Windows XP.

Is that all?
No. Among the other features Microsoft has publicly confirmed are: broad IPv6 support, improved clientside caching of data stored on a server, whole-volume encryption, a revamped synchronization engine, the ability to support laptops with an auxiliary display, automatic hard drive optimization and a secure boot-up process that helps prevent someone from gaining access to your data if your PC is lost or stolen.

Will my PC run Vista?
That depends on how recently you bought it and just how much Vista you want. To get the basics, like the new search abilities and improved security, you'll need a PC with 512MB of memory, an 800MHz processor and a 20GB hard drive with at least 15GB of free space. But to see Vista in all its glory, particularly its new Aero graphics, you'll really need a relatively modern video card with around 128MB of dedicated graphics memory or, for a system with shared systems and graphics memory, you'll need 1GB of memory.

 
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Home arrow About Us arrow Latest arrow Symfony Overview
Symfony Overview PDF Print E-mail
Written by Administrator   
Friday, 16 November 2007

A framework streamlines application development by automating many of the patterns employed for a given purpose. A framework also adds structure to the code, prompting the developer to write better, more readable, and more maintainable code. Ultimately, a framework makes programming easier, since it packages complex operations into simple statements.

Symfony is a complete framework designed to optimize the development of web applications by way of several key features. For starters, it separates a web application's business rules, server logic, and presentation views. It contains numerous tools and classes aimed at shortening the development time of a complex web application. Additionally, it automates common tasks so that the developer can focus entirely on the specifics of an application. The end result of these advantages means there is no need to reinvent the wheel every time a new web application is built!

Symfony was written entirely in PHP 5. It has been thoroughly tested in various real-world projects, and is actually in use for high-demand e-business websites. It is compatible with most of the available databases engines, including MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, and Microsoft SQL Server. It runs on *nix and Windows platforms. Let's begin with a closer look at its features.

Symfony Features
Symfony was built in order to fulfill the following requirements:

  • Easy to install and configure on most platforms (and guaranteed to work on standard *nix and Windows platforms)
  • Database engine-independent
  • Simple to use, in most cases, but still flexible enough to adapt to complex cases
  • Based on the premise of convention over configuration--the developer needs to configure only the unconventional
  • Compliant with most web best practices and design patterns
  • Enterprise-ready--adaptable to existing information technology (IT) policies and architectures, and stable enough for long-term projects
  • Very readable code, with phpDocumentor comments, for easy maintenance
  • Easy to extend, allowing for integration with other vendor libraries

Automated Web Project Features

Most of the common features of web projects are automated within symfony, as follows:

  • The built-in internationalization layer allows for both data and interface translation, as well as content localization.
  • The presentation uses templates and layouts that can be built by HTML designers without any knowledge of the framework. Helpers reduce the amount of presentation code to write by encapsulating large portions of code in simple function calls.
  • Forms support automated validation and repopulation, and this ensures a good quality of data in the database and a better user experience.
  • Output escaping protects applications from attacks via corrupted data.
  • The cache management features reduce bandwidth usage and server load.
  • Authentication and credential features facilitate the creation of restricted sections and user security management.
  • Routing and smart URLs make the page address part of the interface and search-engine friendly.
  • Built-in e-mail and API management features allow web applications to go beyond the classic browser interactions.
  • Lists are more user-friendly thanks to automated pagination, sorting, and filtering.
  • Factories, plug-ins, and mixins provide a high level of extensibility.
  • Ajax interactions are easy to implement thanks to one-line helpers that encapsulate cross-browser-compatible JavaScript effects.

Development Environment and Tools

To fulfill the requirements of enterprises having their own coding guidelines and project management rules, symfony can be entirely customized. It provides, by default, several development environments and is bundled with multiple tools that automate common software-engineering tasks:

  • The code-generation tools are great for prototyping and one-click back-end administration.
  • The built-in unit and functional testing framework provides the perfect tools to allow test-driven development.
  • The debug panel accelerates debugging by displaying all the information the developer needs on the page he's working on.
  • The command-line interface automates application deployment between two servers.
  • Live configuration changes are possible and effective.
  • The logging features give administrators full details about an application's activities.

Go to Symfony Website
Last Updated ( Friday, 16 November 2007 )
 
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