Typically, the cause of these errors has been the use of ?> followed by one or more whitespace characters. The extra whitespace was either added by the original author (and overlooked thanks to a low error_reporting level) or by a none-too-helpful FTP client.

After spending too long hunting down the whitespace (made necessary by the use of unnecessary code), I Twittered about the problem and a deluge of discussion followed.

Tradition and Convention vs. Need

According to the PHP manual on the topic of instruction separation, the use of ?> at the end of a file is completely optional. That said, the use of ?> has been standard fare for decades. At this point in history, most of us are so used to seing it dangling uselessly at the bottom of our code, that removing it feels painful or even dangerous.

Personally, I’d never thought to question it’s existence until I read the Doctrine ORM for PHP coding standards. Coding standards typically consist of a four spaces vs. tab debate, where one should put one’s curly braces, and class naming conventions. When I read Doctrine’s, I was surprised to find them start out with the requiring that ?> not be used at the end of files.

Since then, I’ve found other projects that require it be left off and, most recently, spent hours frustrated by the fact that someone before me didn’t leave it off.

Necessity, the Mother of Invention Convention

There seems to be growing movement among projects to drop the use of ?>. Most PHP coders, however, aren’t a part of those project. Many of us stumble across these things by accident, and overlook them as an oddity of a particular project (as I originally did with Doctrine) rather than a best practice for all PHP code. My hope is that my Twittering about it, this blog post, and subsequent debate/promotion/usage of the practice will save us all time down the road.

Discontinuing the use of ?> where it’s not needed is one way we can make the world a better place. No longer using PHP 3 and 4 and moving to PHP 5 would also help, but that’s another blog post.

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What’s needed is an ever increasing use and creation of open standards so we can all move up the innovation ladder or at least make that forward momentum generally available.

Perhaps the Cloud computing “movement” presents this opportunity in some ways. Tim Bray’s thought that PHP’s ubiquity may help this hope may point to a broader way forward–especially when it plays well with other languages via extensions and remote data stores like CouchDB and other web services.

BigBlueHat’s role in this will hopefully continue to increase. We’re doing things “here and there” at the moment as we continue to bootstrap our way to a successful CMS market share. In the future, though, we hope to give more, participate in more, and promote more of what we believe the web should be.

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If you’ve not yet tried BlueInk, we’d at least like to have you check it out at the BlueInk Demo Site.

Thanks in advance for whichever you have time to do.

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If you’d like to follow the fun, check out the BigBlueHat Twitter feed or search for the #works hashtag.

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Benjamin Young admittedly hates computers, but in 2002 he launched BigBlueHat, a web design and information management company.  Why?  Because he wants to provide people with solutions for the same problems that annoy him about computers.  This idea and BigBlueHat’s customer-centered mission to “make the web a better place” helped the firm to enjoy enough growth over the years that in 2006 Young decided to expand is own “freelance gig” by bringing on web developer Brad Garrett.  Together, they provide web design and development services, as well as content management and project management systems, all of which can be customized to fit their different customers’ needs.

Hoping to grow his company even more, Young enrolled in a FastTrac GrowthVenture class in Greenville facilitated by Kim Williams in the fall of 2007, an experience he would gladly repeat.  Looking back, Young said that his only regret is that he did not know about the program when he started the company.  He explained, “I gained insight into business management essentials I’d overlooked, shared experiences with other small business owners, and learned from leading local entrepreneurs. In many ways, it changed the course my business took.”  Find out more about the course BigBlueHat has taken and where it is going at www.bigbluehat.com.

I really did enjoy FastTrac, and would do it again. If you’re in South Carolina and are looking to start or grow your business, I recommend you check out the FastTrac programs. They’re worth every penny.

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Generally, it’s best to look at what other successful innovators are doing. Sometimes, though, it’s good to look at less successful ventures like The 50 Worst Cars of All Time.

Personal Top 5 favorites include:

• 1913 Scripps-Booth Bi-Autogo
• 1933 Fuller Dymaxion
• 1957 Waterman Aerobile
• 1958 Zunndapp Janus
• 1966 Peel Trident

Inspired yet? No, check out the Microcar Museum. Innovation is just around the bend…no doubt.

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Contact Information:
Benjamin Young
108 Poplar Dr.
Greer, SC 29651
Tel: 864.232.9553
Website: http://www.bigbluehat.com/

Greenville, SC —Today, BigBlueHat is announcing the immediate availability of version 2 of our BlueInk Content Management System (CMS).

BlueInk is BigBlueHat’s flagship product. BlueInk gives ordinary people hassle-free, in-browser control over their web site’s content. Through a simple, innovative interface the site owner can edit and organize text, photos, contact information, and other components—all while viewing the site.

During the creation of BlueInk version 2, BigBlueHat received valuable feedback from several upstate businesses, entrepreneurs, and web technologists. BigBlueHat continues to use feedback gleaned from current and potential customers as it makes pivotal decisions about the future of its product.

BlueInk is available via BigBlueHat’s website as new template-based site, a web site conversion, or through the purchase of BigBlueHat’s design files to code service. BlueInk is sold on a software-as-a-service, so web site owners enjoy free upgrades to the software.

BigBlueHat is a web-manufacturing company that creates custom web sites and web-based software for clients around the world. Its chief product is the BlueInk CMS, a proprietary content management system that accommodates both the designer and the end user with an easy-to-use interface.

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BlueInk version 2.0 is significantly different than anything we’ve done in the past. You can edit your web site while you view it, drag-and-drop content into place, and upload several photos or documents in one go. We think it will change the way people think about editing web sites.

BlueInk v2 is available for purchase online. Each of the four available packages comes with a free template (if you want), free hosting, and e-mail addresses. BlueInk is a great way to get your small business site online quickly and inexpensively.

All subscription plans we offer include free upgrades for the life of your subscription, so BlueInk will just get better and better the longer you use it.

If you’re a fellow web designer, larger business, or you’ve got some really unique content, just let us know.

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I had a great time at Tech After 5 last night. It was good to see so many friends and make some new ones.

Northstar Creative and Ever Green Recycling were in the Startup Zone–which, speaking from personal experience, is a great place to be.

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