Introduction
As a former active member of the community website phpfreakz.nl I still tend to pay this site a visit every once in a while. Phpfreakz.nl is a Dutch forumsite which concentrates on webdevelopment and, obviously, PHP in particular. The majority of phpfreakz's user base exists of novices and hobbyists, supported and pushed into the right directions by helpful advanced members or even professionals. Activities around phpfreakz.nl are growing lately and this year the board even organized their first
congress on which Ibuildings held a presentation as well.
An interesting initiative
During my latest visit I noticed a topic started by one of phpfreakz's members, Berry Langerak. Often approached with requests to share his knowledge and object oriented code, Berry suggested the community to start and develop a project amongst members. Of course, projects are born on an everyday basis, but what makes this one special is its goal. The project is not meant to be released (it would be a nice plus), but its main purpose is to provide a collaborative learning environment in which novices as well as advanced members can work on their skills and learn from others. The application should respect accepted standards, be secure and based on easily understandable and well-documented object oriented code. Berry's idea was well received and members started putting themselves forward to contribute to the project.
"What's in it for me"
The project stands or falls with participation and therefore activities should offer challenges for everyone. While the less advanced participant will probably be satisfied by getting used to version control, and understanding the code and documentation, advanced users face their own challenges. For them it will be interesting to discuss and develop with others. Version control using SVN may be new to some, certain design patterns or writing test cases to others. It's their chance to fill a different task then they usually do, by leading a project and educating others.
Current status
The project received the not-so-creative name "pfzproject" and the application to be built is a basic Content Management System. Decisions are made by a small group of core developers who will guide the project. Communication will take place over IRC, Wiki and a Forum. Code will be made available through SVN. About 20 developers have offered their assistance. Coding standards and basic functionality have been agreed on. Berry is working on a technical and functional designs and when those are finished we will be ready for what should be a very exciting experiment.
Onwards!
Will this project succeed in its goals? Only time can tell. Yet time is the one thing that may stand in the way of success. I will keep a close eye on developments and plan on sharing my findings here.
Update
For our Dutch readers, here are some interesting links regarding the PFZProject:
the thread that started it all
most recent activities
first assignment for participants
Ibuildings Blogs