Technology We Use

Ruby is a very modern, flexible, and maintainable language, ideally suited for web development. As one of the most popular of the latest-generation languages, we find Ruby to be an excellent choice for new web applications. If you're a start-up looking for rapid prototyping, or a small organization looking for a high-quality site for an affordable price, this is the choice for you.

More sites use PHP than any other programming language. This is due to its relative ease of deployment, long history, and simplicity. If you have a legacy system that's built on PHP, we can help you maintain, optimize and enhance it.

Once a novelty, javascript has come into its own in the past few years. It allows for a much richer user experience, and used judiciously, can lower your server load and enhance your site's functionality.

Rails is a web application framework designed to take the tedium and complexity out of web development. It is designed around the DRY principle ("Don't repeat yourself"), making code clean, concise, and easy to maintain. Rails enables a new way of website development, and underlies our site modules system. Faster to develop, faster to debug, faster to deploy - Rails is a powerful tool for web development.

jQuery is fast becoming the dominant Javascript framework for the working web. Fast, clean, elegant - if you're looking for interactivity, AJAX data feeds, or other custom DHTML functionality, jQuery is the best tool for the job.

For PHP site development, we prefer the Smarty templating system as a way to separate business logic from presentation. Smarty is a simple system with powerful built-in caching and sub-template support.

Postgres is a robust, elegant database suitable for any small to mid-size web site. It features robust data protection, easy administration, and broad support.

While we prefer Postgres, we have experience using and managing MySQL based systems as well. MySQL is incredibly popular and easy to set up and administer.

The dominant platform for web application deployment, Linux is the best choice for scalable maintainable websites. We have extensive experience managing Linux-based systems, and can help you select a hosting provider and distribution for deployment.

We have developed numerous desktop applications for Windows, primarily in C++. However, with the advent of Adobe's AIR platform, it is becoming possible to have a tightly integrated desktop experience to complement your web applications. Ask us about this technology if you are looking for an intranet app with a desktop presence.