Okay I finally began a little analysis of the project. So essentially, we have two mini-projects within this one, the first thing to do would be design and implement a web service for repodoc, which is an experimental tool to validate GuideXML documents. Instead of directly invoking the tool on the server, we decided that it would be more secure and useful if a web service for the same could be prepared.

So which kind of web service do we implement? Three options that immediately pop up are XML-RPC, SOAP and REST. We ruled out XML-RPC because of all the security vulnerabilities, so the debate essentially boils down to SOAP vs. REST. SOAP is a more feature rich and robust option, while REST has the advantage of extreme simplicity and lesser security issues. I'm quite comfortable with SOAP and would not face any trouble in implementing a web serice using it, but my mentor is a bit keen on using REST because of its simplicity and suitability for this project.

I'm taking a deeper look at REST right now, because I'm not too familiar with it. Hopefully, I should make a final decision on this, because according to the schedule I put on the proposal, my analysis phase ends today

We're more or less decided on the other factors though. PHP 5.1 all the way, Smarty for templating the editor and a nice Javascript based WYSIWYG editor for the base. Lot's of options for the WYSIWYG editor though, we have the classic ones like TinyMCE and FCKEditor, and some really funky ones like Bitflux, Kupu and SPAW.

The results of SoC 2006 were finally announced around midnight of 23rd May, PDT. And it looks like I’ll be working on the GuideXML editor for Gentoo.It was a roller-coaster ride for all applicants, and as in any competition, some made it but some didn’t. Nevertheless, I am sure it was an excellent experience for everyone involved: the students, the mentors and of course the wonderful folks at Google’s OSS office. There is a lot to be said about the entire competition, and I plan to do so in the forthcoming months; along with charting the progress of my project for Gentoo.I am looking forward to having a great time with all of you, and I also hope to make this a valuable resource for all future applicants! Once PlanetSoC is ready to accept feeds from external blogs, i’ll be adding this blog there too. So until the next post, keep smiling

My exams are finally over, and I should hopefully have completed 2 years of my engineering! It's a great relief; and despite all the summer of code proposal preparation, the exams seem to have gone pretty well.

Well, now it's time for the summer, and I think I have a great summer ahead! First of all, I have an internship at the National University of Singapore. It's pretty exciting, more so because this will be my first trip abroad, and it also will be the first time I board a plane. Yay!

I also got a brand new iPod Nano! I haven't seen it yet, but I will when I get home. I can't wait, the pictures of it on the Apple site are amazing. I'm figuring out a good way to sync songs to it on my Gentoo Linux, since iTunes won't work. I've seen some plugins to XMMS, and AmaroK seems to support iPods too. There's also YamiPod, and RhythmBox, both of which look good. I'm a bit sceptic about AmaroK though, i'm a GNOME fanatic after all. We'll see.

Apart from that, the summer of code results will be announced on 23rd may. That's pretty exciting too. I sent in my proposals, and am anxiously waiting for the outcome. I shouldn't get ahead of myself, but in case I do get the SoC grant, I'm planning to get a nice Macbook Pro. I think I'm really in love with Apple. I asked around, and it seems Gentoo Linux works like a charm on the new Macs. Perfect.

Scott also asked Apress to send me a review copy of Pro PHP-GTK. How kind of him, and how exciting for me! It's great to finally see a book on PHP-GTK, atleast this should make people consider it more seriously. On the same note, I submitted the draft for a 2-part article on PHP-GTK 2 to php|architect. Hope they like it, if they do, it's scheduled to appear in the months of July and August.

All in all, pretty good summer ahead! I'll keep you posted on the happenings and if the SoC proposal goes through, I'll also open up a nice page for it. Keep Smiling!