In his most recent post Chris Hartjes looks at the concept of "test whenever" (vs TDD) development practices and how, sometimes, writing tests for things that are may get tossed when they're done may not be the best option.

Let’s look at TDD vs. Test whenever. The trade-off being made here is not about quality of code or guarding against regressions. It’s about opportunity cost. This had occurred to me but I had dismissed it as being “anti-testing”. But I think I was wrong, and here’s why.

He talks some about a presentation from Dan North< ("Decisions, Decisions") about when to test (not whether to test or not) and how he noticed his development team was being very productive, but with a "spike and stabilize" development method. He also talks about the concept of "opportunity cost" and how it plays a factor in when tests are introduced to the process.

The key to all this is being able to identify at what stage in this particular pattern your code is at. Is it still a spike, meaning you are working out implementation details and trying to figure out if it will even have the desired result? Or is it stable, providing solid value to the application as a whole and ready to be wrapped in tests to protect against regressions?

According to a new post to their blog, the PHPWomen group has announced a partnership program for projects that want to put out a message of encouraging diversity in contributors:

As quoted from the information page about the partnerships:

PHPWomen has launched a partnership program for open source projects that are committed to embracing diversity and providing a welcoming and friendly atmosphere for contributors. We work closely with project leaders to identify specific areas of need, and will actively encourage our members to participate by promoting those needs through various channels. In return, the project leaders will ensure that newcomers to their projects will be welcomed and their contributions appreciated. This includes fostering an open and friendly environment for all newcomers, not just females.

The goal of the project is to encourage inviting environments for open source projects where developers feel like they're given a chance to contribute equally and to provide something more specific than "here's a project that needs help - go for it".

There's already several projects that are on the list including Spaz and the PHP Documentation team. You can find out more specifics on what they're looking for in contributions on the Opportunities page.

Wez Furlong has posted information about even more positions opening at OmniTI (check out this post for information on the others).

In addition to the PHP web dev openings that Laura mentioned, we're also looking to hire some mid-level systems engineers to code primarily in C on UNIX/Windows.

If you're interested in working directly with George, Theo and myself (and the veritable host of other smart, interesting and fun people that also work at OmniTI) on some of the fastest, most highly stressed core infrastructure applications ever created, then we'd like to hear from you.

For complete details on the position(s), check out the full description over on the OmniTI website.

Wez Furlong has posted information about even more positions opening at OmniTI (check out this post for information on the others).

In addition to the PHP web dev openings that Laura mentioned, we're also looking to hire some mid-level systems engineers to code primarily in C on UNIX/Windows.

If you're interested in working directly with George, Theo and myself (and the veritable host of other smart, interesting and fun people that also work at OmniTI) on some of the fastest, most highly stressed core infrastructure applications ever created, then we'd like to hear from you.

For complete details on the position(s), check out the full description over on the OmniTI website.

Laura Thomson has posted this note on her blog today about job offerings over at OmniTI (employer of her, George Schlossnagle, Chris Shiflett, and Theo Schlossnagle) for junior to mid-level web developers.

She lists the requirements (including good PHP/SQL/UNIX/HTML & CSS skills, and knowledge of database design/Ajax/web services/etc).

To apply, send off a resume and code samples to jobs@omniti.com.

Laura Thomson has posted this note on her blog today about job offerings over at OmniTI (employer of her, George Schlossnagle, Chris Shiflett, and Theo Schlossnagle) for junior to mid-level web developers.

She lists the requirements (including good PHP/SQL/UNIX/HTML & CSS skills, and knowledge of database design/Ajax/web services/etc).

To apply, send off a resume and code samples to jobs@omniti.com.

In an effort to help out the Zend Framework project as much as possible, Zend has posted this job offering on the LinkedIn site for a "Software Team Leader" in the San Franscisco Bay area.

Zend is one of the major commercial drivers behind the success of PHP, and is investing in a number of open source projects aimed at further advancing the strength of the PHP technology and community. One of the most significant of these projects is the Zend Framework, which aims to make it very easy to develop the next generation of web applications.

Contributors to the project are some of the world's smartest programmers - some fulltime Zend employees, some working for sponsoring companies, yet others working as individual contributors. For this eclectic team we are looking to find a team leader who can bring out the best in each of the contributors, who can encourage even broader participation from the community, and who can keep it all together and deliver a coherent, state-of-the-art PHP framework.

Responsibilities of the position include:

• delivering a top quality PHP-based Web application framework
• lead a distributed team of highly qualified software engineers
• take part in actual development tasks and will be a role model for others

For complete infromation on this offering and to apply for the position, check out this job posting on LinkedIn.

In an effort to help out the Zend Framework project as much as possible, Zend has posted this job offering on the LinkedIn site for a "Software Team Leader" in the San Franscisco Bay area.

Zend is one of the major commercial drivers behind the success of PHP, and is investing in a number of open source projects aimed at further advancing the strength of the PHP technology and community. One of the most significant of these projects is the Zend Framework, which aims to make it very easy to develop the next generation of web applications.

Contributors to the project are some of the world's smartest programmers - some fulltime Zend employees, some working for sponsoring companies, yet others working as individual contributors. For this eclectic team we are looking to find a team leader who can bring out the best in each of the contributors, who can encourage even broader participation from the community, and who can keep it all together and deliver a coherent, state-of-the-art PHP framework.

Responsibilities of the position include:

• delivering a top quality PHP-based Web application framework
• lead a distributed team of highly qualified software engineers
• take part in actual development tasks and will be a role model for others

For complete infromation on this offering and to apply for the position, check out this job posting on LinkedIn.

In an effort to reach as many of the PHP developers out there, the fine folks at Yahoo! have submitted this job information for a position in Sunnyvale, California:

Title: Yahoo Web Developer for Small Business
Location: Sunnyvale, CA

Y! Small Business is looking for a self-motivated experienced Web Developer to join the Small Business engineering team. In this capacity, you will work closely with interaction designers, visual designers, user experience researchers, software engineers, and product managers. The ideal candidate possess a strong command of markup, PHP, CSS to level 2, JavaScript to version 1.5, practical knowledge and use of up to DOM2 methods and properties, cross-browser development techniques, browser degradation strategies, well-versed in code optimization and development patterns, accessibility 508 compliance guidelines, and experience with end-to-end high-quality development/testing. You will exercise innovation and influence in support of UI design and heuristics through your expertise in client development to enhance user experiences.

Experience working in Unix environments, CVS or source control, and bug tracking tools is highly desirable. The environment is fast-paced with numerous, user-centered, iterative design and development cycles. You will be responsible for creating proof-of-concepts/prototypes to production-level "best of breed" websites and applications. If you're interested, send an email over to teddi [at] yahoo-inc [dot] com for the complete details...

In an effort to reach as many of the PHP developers out there, the fine folks at Yahoo! have submitted this job information for a position in Sunnyvale, California:

Title: Yahoo Web Developer for Small Business
Location: Sunnyvale, CA

Y! Small Business is looking for a self-motivated experienced Web Developer to join the Small Business engineering team. In this capacity, you will work closely with interaction designers, visual designers, user experience researchers, software engineers, and product managers. The ideal candidate possess a strong command of markup, PHP, CSS to level 2, JavaScript to version 1.5, practical knowledge and use of up to DOM2 methods and properties, cross-browser development techniques, browser degradation strategies, well-versed in code optimization and development patterns, accessibility 508 compliance guidelines, and experience with end-to-end high-quality development/testing. You will exercise innovation and influence in support of UI design and heuristics through your expertise in client development to enhance user experiences.

Experience working in Unix environments, CVS or source control, and bug tracking tools is highly desirable. The environment is fast-paced with numerous, user-centered, iterative design and development cycles. You will be responsible for creating proof-of-concepts/prototypes to production-level "best of breed" websites and applications. If you're interested, send an email over to teddi [at] yahoo-inc [dot] com for the complete details...