I was working on a PHP app today. Just a plain old, nothing fancy, queries-right-in-the-code, edit-it-live-on-the-server PHP app. And you know what? I got shit done.
There is a certain size problem that can benefit from the old Model One architecture where you just mix it all together on one page and edit straight from FTP right there on the live server. Insecure? Probably. Testable? Not really. Buzzword compliant? Nope. Elegant? Hardly. Refactored? Keep dreaming. Pragmatic? Way.
You need to look at the pragmatic side of getting things done to see the beauty in it. We solved some immediate problems that were preventing customers from using the site. It reminds me of a business video I saw once in business school. The company was paralyzed and could not ship orders because the computer system was down. One guy actually went next door to the office supply store and bought a bunch of labels and magic markers. He came back and told everyone that on this day they would hand-write addresses and stick labels on boxes and set them out for UPS to pick up. And I believe the story too.
Sure, maybe there was some cleanup to do later. Sure, maybe some customers momentarily thought it was rink-a-dink to receive a hand-written package. But you know what? They got their orders and money was transacted. Tell me, how is that not a good thing?
2 responses so far ↓
1 blackstonemedia.net/web_hosting_services
Taylor Trusty // Sep 12, 2008 at 4:03 pm
As someone who has been there many times, I agree 100%.
2 rubinsky.com
Susan Rubinsky // Oct 7, 2008 at 4:52 am
I am not a coder, I am a marketer, but I love PHP too. PHP is so easy to figure out just by looking at it that I can often fix problems for my clients right there on the fly without having to call in my tech guy at all.
You’re right, often a solution does not need to be complex. Simple is really elegant at times.
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