websites

If you are working on the Linux command line then sometimes you'll do a search to find out how to run a command that performs a task. I don't usually copy and paste commands in unless I can see what is going on, which used to mean spending time going through man pages and documentation trying to find out what this or that flag does.

That all changed when I found explainshell.com, which will extract the parameters of a command and tell you all about what the different flags will do.

I use sites like CodePen and JSFiddle all the time to write JavaScript and CSS, but I've not seen a similar site for writing PHP applications. I have used 3v4l.org to test small scripts using different versions of PHP, but it doesn't allow dependencies to be added and doesn't have a nice editing interface.

Recently, I found a site called PHPSandbox that allows users to create PHP applications that can be run in the same way as applications on CodePen. This includes using composer to inject dependencies into the application and a nice little editor interface to see the output and logs from the application.

Picture the scene, it's 2010, you're a young web developer working in a satellite office of a fast paced digital agency. The work is interesting, but normally quite stressful as there are tight deadlines and high expectations on delivering good work. There is a lot going on so you tend to finish one website and jump onto the next. The company you work for has a history of firing people and making people redundant, especially in the satellite office you work at. Low morale, a culture of blame, and absolutely zero investment in people means that there is very little enthusiasm for the work from anyone. The economy is still recovering from the collapse of the banking system from a couple of years before. You have a young family at home and so you'll put up with a lot of poor working conditions to ensure a pay cheque every month.