h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm on holiday from work for a fortnight now, and what does that mean? That means that I've got some spare time to sit down and create a new login system for h2g2 once we're away from the BBC.

The login system is potentially the only major piece of coding we're likely to have to do for the move. We obviously can't take BBCiD with us, so we have to create a new one just for us. But we also have to make sure that whatever we build now can cope with whatever we throw at it in the future.

There's been mention before (in the announcement no less) that we're looking at really pushing h2g2 mobile, to really try and fulfill it's original aim. To do this, we're going to need to have a login system that allows for fast, lightweight user authentication.

So how are we going to do this? Well, we're currently looking at using Zend Authentication with a SOAP/JSON API that can be used for the "off site" authentication that will be needed.

So, it's just after 11am on a Monday morning. Times to break out the martinis and get coding...

*nods sagely*
Zen... good choice...
*trys to look liek he knows what he's talking about*

Zend is a PHP based framework that is about as solid and standard as you can get from the PHP based route. I was thinking about a few others, but I know more PHP developers than any other language.

yep... I've heard of both... and sort* of know what* they are... I'm just not quite* geeky enough to be able to code in any of htem But we've got you for that

PHP is actually one of the easiest programming languages. It's very fast to get stuff up and running to see if/how it can work, and yet you can program some very solid stuff in it.

I would say Barlesque is in it, but that might put you off

I could* years and years ago do basic on spectrums, comadoor computers and the like... but taht was a very* long while ago : a couple years back when I was doing some HTML stuff I learnt a bit of javascript ... just enough to get me by for what I was doing, but its not exactly impossible to learn, but unless I use it regularly I just forget it all... though, strangely I think I can still just about remember doing basic on the spec!
I know eventually, I'll give in and learn a programming language properly... I just need some kind of real reason for doing so, and some suitable stuff to help learn it from... I don't know if I could do it like I did for HTML (which I basically just taught myself looking at other peoples HTML code...)