Methodology

Here is how we ensure that your web site project will succeed:

• hire the best web programmers we can find and treat them well
• use an "iterative" approach to developing software
• use well documented code guidelines for clear, consistent, re-usable code
• use a well documented, backed-up source version control system (Subversion)
• use a standard software development project plan
• maintain and use standard libraries of code to speed development
• integrate open source solutions when applicable (don't reinvent the wheel)
• use existing, well behaved libraries when possible (PEAR, FPDF, etc.)

Hiring

The most important part of any business is the people. It also seems to be the most difficult part. After 5 years of hiring, firing, and laying off staff we have developed a good hiring process. In reality however, it doesn't seem to matter. After using three different staffing agencies and spending a lot of time ourselves, we have found that it is still almost impossible to consistently hire the best people. You just can't tell how good someone is (and how good a fit) until they have been working for at least a month.

Consequently, we don't have a large staff, but every one of them is exceptional. They each love what they are doing. We go out of our way to treat our employees with respect and to make sure that they have an excellent working environment.

Iterative Programming

Software development projects are one of the most difficult projects to manage. We all know that one of the best ways to approach a large project is to break it down in to small pieces and focus on each step in turn. In addition to this, it is best to start simple and then add complexity as needed.

This concept is one of the core focuses of extreme programming. Although we don't formally practice extreme programming, we do subscribe to many of the same ideas.

Code Guidelines

As a customer, or web site user, you will likely never see what the code (that makes up your website or web application) looks like. For the most part it will not affect the performance or effectiveness of your web site; however, it makes a big difference when it comes to making changes or when someone else has to work on the site.

Most web designers and programmers do not follow standard coding guidelines. At Claero Systems we have clearly documented guidelines for scripting and markup languages so that all of our code is consistently formatted and clearly readable regardless of who works on your project.

In addition to this, we also have a standard in-line documentation notation for our code. It is identical to the standard Javadoc style comments.

Source Control

Source control is a standard method of keeping track of changes to software, as well as managing changes being made by multiple programmers. A source control system helps manage the changes and different versions of your software. Although the use of a source control system is standard procedure for standalone software development, many web application developers still don't use a source control system.

Claero has a redundant source control system that our programmers use on a daily basis to ensure that all changes are tracked and conflicts are managed systematically. We use an open source product called Subversion.

Standard Libraries

At Claero Systems we have a set of standard libraries that we have developed and revised throughout the years. These libraries allow our programmers to quickly implement standard features within your application without having to rewrite them each time. Not only does it speed up development time, but it also allows for more consistency across our client's applications. This means that once our programmers become familiar with the libraries, they can easily understand and work on any of our projects.

Open Source

There is nothing worse than reinventing the wheel. At Claero we always look for a software package that has already been written to solve your needs first. It may be commercial software or open source software.

Although not widely understood or appreciated, we believe that open source software can provide significant advantages to small and large businesses who are willing to take the time to understand how it works and why it makes so much sense.

Some web-based open source software packages that we have implemented are:

• Joomla! v1.x and v1.5 - a great web site content management system, meaning that you can update your own website using just your browser, much like you would use Microsoft Word (free for commercial use)
• Gallery v1.5x and v2.x - in our opinion, this is the best web based photo gallery software available (free for commercial use)
• PHP BB - a great PHP based bulletin board package (free for commercial use)
• Docuwiki - a great PHP based wiki package, this is an amazing way to keep track of your own documentation, including company policies and procedures, checklists, knowledge base, etc. (free for commercial use)
• Sugar CRM - a great PHP based Customer Relationship Management package

We also use many open source and shareware libraries and tools to create our web applications. These include:

• PHP - a web scripting language
• MySQL - a very fast relational database
• SQLite - a very fast and small relational database
• JP Graph - a great PHP graphing library (license required for commercial use)
• FPDF - a very lightweight PDF library for PHP
• Sphider - a very nice PHP based, lightweight search engine that will search web pages, pdf files, etc.
• Yahoo YUI - Yahoo's user interface library, used to speed up development of front-end user interface development for websites

For more information on Open Source software see the Open Source Initiative website or read about it on Wikipedia.