Technology
We’re very specific about the tools we use at Toast Driven. We like ’em relatively cutting–edge, dynamic, scalable and preferably open–source. Here’s what we use:
Frameworks
Web frameworks exist to reduce the repetition involved in creating web applications. They’re good for us (less code is good!) and good for clients (faster development and proven architectures). We’re also especially choosey in this realm because we’ve tried a lot of different options that are out there and these consistently have worked the best for us.
- Django
- Built with Python, Django is, in the words of its authors, “the Web framework for perfectionists with deadlines”. Plenty fast, modular and powerful, Django is everything we like in a web framework and is the tool of choice.
- Ruby On Rails
- Rails has caused a bit of an uproar in the last few years and it’s with good reason. A well-designed, opinionated framework written in Ruby with low configuration and pleasant syntax, it’s seen widespread adoption recently and has demonstrated its flexibility time and again.
Web
How you use your tools can make all the difference in a final product. These web-specific technologies don’t necessitate good practices but, when used correctly, can yield a lighter, faster, more accessible and cost–effective website.
- HTML
- We use clean, semantic markup to build our pages in HTML 4.01. As much as possible, our HTML is content-only, leaving the presentational aspects to CSS. This also yields great flexibility to provide content to other devices, such as mobile browsers.
- CSS
- Separating content (HTML) from presentation (CSS) gives us great flexibility in how a website is designed and presented to people viewing our websites. It also provides bandwidth savings, easier maintenance and great customization potential.
- Unobtrusive Javascript
- The final piece to the Web puzzle, unobtrusive Javascript is a technique for adding behavior to a webpage without cluttering the content. This also lends to easier maintenance and greater accessibility to all people who use the website.
We also strive for Section 508 compliance because we think everyone ought to be able to use the website, regardless of disability. We create search engine friendly sites (but don't do SEO) so that they’re naturally easy to search and provide relevant content. RSS/Atom, REST web services and microformats all find their way in where needed to help users access data in helpful or interesting ways.
Databases
The real value in any web application is not the code that powers it but the data/information it manages. A solid database makes for a solid foundation to a web application.
- MySQL
- The most widely–deployed open–source database server, MySQL can stand up to heavy loads without so much as blinking. Scalable and fast, this is our database of choice on bigger sites.
- SQLite
- Sometimes the simple answer is the best. SQLite provides many of the benefits of a bigger server without all the configuration and hassles. Lightweight, easy deployment and easy migration to a bigger solution when needed make SQLite a great choice to start with.