What's a Framework?!

Good question - coming from more of a design background that programming, I've always had difficulty grasping the concept of frameworks. After many lengthy discussions with colleagues and friends about the definition of an online framework it has been agreed upon (or disagreed upon) - for a non-logical thinker this is what I believe to be the best description of a framework...

To quote Wikipedia a framework is "the skeleton of an application that can be customized by an application developer", which doesn't really make much sense in a website environment - to quote the dictionary a framework is "an essential supporting structure of a building or object"; these two definitions indicate that an online framework is going to be the underlying foundations for your site, that's a start.

For the web there are a number of services and products which are categorised or marketed as a framework, and as I was saying I know more about design than code, so correct me if I'm wrong here, here's a few of my favourites:

This is the Ruby programming language coded upon the Rails programming method; which together is labelled a framework - any programming language can be coded upon Rails, so you could get PHP on Rails if you wanted.

This is another framework which uses the PHP language, they offer a package which lets programmers code more robust sites - another service which has labelled themselves as a framework.

Here's another framework using the Python language, this one lets the programmer rapidly develop their site and produce cleaner code - sounds great!

So far to my understanding these services take an already existing programming language, state that its very cumbersome and complex, and offer something which bolts-on to make it simple and easier to use, so my search is over?

JavaScript Frameworks

I'm better at JavaScript that those hard-core programming languages I've mentioned above, and I've found a number of JavaScript services and products marketed at a framework - JQuery, script.aculo.us, MooTools and Prototype are my favourite ones.

Each of these lets the developer produce a website quicker using JavaScript - ah but wait! both JQuery and script.aculo.us refer to themselves as a framework and a JavaScript Library, now that's more descriptive! - A library for JavaScript, a collection of particular ways to code the language, sounds like something I'd like to use, so maybe this is a better way to think of a framework.

Content Management Systems

Now to throw something else into the mix, not all, but some Content Management Systems (CMS) also refer to themselves as a Content Management Framework (CMF) - here's a list of what Wikipedia calls a CMF - how does this type of framework fit into my definition?

Usually a CMS helps the website owner or developer organise and manage their pages and articles, in some shape or form you can usually login and change titles, headings and the body text of a page - this doesn't really sound like the programming-enhancers we've been looking at above - so how can this website file manager become a framework too?

A good example of a CMS/CMF is MODx - which actually calls itself a PHP framework too - the best way to describe MODx is more like a foundation and an underlying basis for you to start building your site onto, kind of like the dictionary definition, but not how I imagine the hard-core languages. So MODx wouldn't just be a glorified file manager, instead a development aid, something which really helps out a designer, a shortcut for the programming.



Lots of CMSes let you integrate your own PHP, JavaScript and hard-core code into their systems, allowing you to build up a collection of the best methods to build a site - this compilation, is really what a framework is to me - the individual elements have been joined together for you so they all work in unison, this is a group of tools you use together, like using the Ruby programming language with the Rails method (only two tools here), where as a CMF has a broad selection of tools on offer, allowing the designer or developer to speed up their work (like lots of the mentioned frameworks have promoted their products to do!)

Feel free to completely correct me if you think I'm wrong, this is just my own take on what a framework is.

Mallmus and FoxyCart

The beginning phases of the Herbal Skateboards site were complete and it was down to the store to be built next, the new year was approaching and we wanted to have everything open by January.

The core structure of the store was pretty much complete, so we started implementing the FoxyCart functions into the sites backend - to our surprise, we discovered that FoxyCart isn't compatible with any UK payment gateways or banks.

Basically to use FoxyCart you like the service to a third-party payment checker, either your merchant hight-street bank account or an online service; this was going to be another fee which we had to take into account.

The Herbal client really wanted to use PayPal Payments Pro UK, but unfortunately FoxyCart didn't have any UK support for PayPal, so for the payment gateway we looked at: ModernBill, Authorize.net, World Pay, Protx and CDG Commerce - some of which were supported by FoxyCart in the UK at the time but more problems arose, for example, World Pay has a set-up fee of £200 - well out of budget for a payment gateway - We'd developed the store to work perfectly with the FoxyCart system, so to rewind and redevelop the store for another service would be too time consuming - so I got in touch with the FoxyCart team.

Brett and his team at Foxy had some more UK updates planned later down the line, the demand for Foxy in the UK wasn't high enough for immediate development - so things ground to a halt for the Herbal store.

A couple of months later Brett got back in touch and suggested that if we work with Foxy to beta test PayPal Payments Pro for the UK, get it up and running, then they'd work on it right away - and now PayPal UK is supported on FoxyCart.

PayPal Pro UK is relatively cheap compared to its competitors I mentioned above, on top of those transaction fees there's a £20/month payment, which only requires one sale and you've covered it - FoxyCart is only $15/month, which is about £7.5/month, so for about £27 per month we had a UK compatible fully customisable store running.

We can proudly announce that this week Herbal Skateboards have received their first customer in their store.

Epilogue

We're really tankful to the guys at FoxyCart, I know they made many exceptions to get the store running.

A final word on PayPal - I have never experienced such lousy customer services in my life - their UK support is near non-existent, for example, we'd call to enquire about some of their API functions, and not one of their technical support could answer anything, or the expert on that topic wasn't in that day - they never returned our calls, and one time before they'd resolved an issue they'd sent me a service questionnaire.

They also seem to be going through some migrations between American services, European services and the UK services, they all have interchangeable names, which are the same in some countries and different in others - trust me, whatever you do avoid delving into their code and functions.

Weezer and The Red Album

I only have a few words to say: oh dear - not about the music, that's okay - but why have they changed their image and branding direction? - I hope that these pictures and video show my inner turmoil with this new look

Moustaches

I have few qualms and uneasy feelings about the actual music, but its the change in their look - to be honest the lead singer looks a bit of a mess, and the other three seem to have been hanging around with the Killers.

River Cuomo of Weezer Before The Red Album

The Greatest Man That Ever Lived: Cuomo After Red Album

The Killers

Optical Illusions

To a mainstream band like this their image should be considered just as important as their music, if a band looks uncool, like lets say Andrew W.K., then your going to fall of the edge of the globe even if the music is great - and I'd not want to see Weezer do that...

Optical Illusions

So I guess what I'm saying is that its important for a modern band (or modern business) to build up a strong personality and soul through their image, not just their work, as I don't want to spend my money on something which will represent me as an idiot.