Of (PHP) Sessions, Cookies, and Authentication

Do you know the difference between the PHP config directives session.gc_maxlifetime and session.cookie_lifetime? Have you wrestled with implementing a “Remember Me” button on your login page? Learn how popular sites, such as Twitter and Facebook, keep you logged in (apparently) forever and the security risks of such methods.

Who’s Using Your Software?

Software is only successful if someone can use it. Good developers need to do more than just follow specifications, they need to visualize the people who will use it and understand what they need. Get to know your users and the questions you need to ask to make your implementation a success on all fronts.

Here are the talks I attended:

• The Future Is Not Yet Widely Distributed (Intro To Git)
• Map, Filter, Reduce – In The Small And In The Cloud
• You Look You Could Use Some REST
• Exploring Artificial Intelligence With Python
• Extending Existing Web Services With SMS And XMPP
• Get Soaked: Streams, an In-Depth Look
• Test Drive Your Development Process

The most interesting one for me, uh, emotionally was probably the AI talk.  Brings me back to my days in SB.  The most useful topic which I could probably put to use at work tomorrow was the SMS/XMPP talk.

I managed to make it downtown one night, and got to meet some new people.

The last highlight I’ll mention were the Pecha Kucha talks on Thursday night.  It was interesting and a ton of fun.  The open bar didn’t hurt either.

See a few more photos from php|works 2008.