alchemy Main Page

What is alchemy?

alchemy is the name for a very loose set web application api's I have been working on and using over the past decade or so of web development. The alchemy api's are very tightly integrated with one another. Further, the alchemy api's integrate other api's into the mix as I try not to spend too much time "reinventing the wheel."

Technologies involved

Php
Javascript
JQuery
CSS
Html
MySQL
SQL Server

Why I took this approach?

There are many good free software packages out there for web development like Drupal and Joomla. There are other type of apps that one can also readily integrate into their websites. Many of these packages are extensible and allow you to add your own code and even to extend or enhance the base packages.

But, even with all this freedom these packages still require you to fit into their way of thinking, into their idea of what a framework is. If your web projects and websites can fit into these paradigms then you are off to the races.

However, if you have some programming skills, design skills and seek something more flexible, then the loose api approach I use may be a better and more flexible fit. There is quite a bit of open source code in the public domain that one can evaulate and integrate into their own design.

Commericial software development has become like a factory. The roles are broken out by occupation. The larger the enterprise the more turfing one encounters. It is just flat-out not a good environment for developers that are more occupational jack-of-all-trades, master of none. Creativity and innovation is oftentimes by committee and laborious process.

I have developed commercial and open source software for well over twenty years now. If you have fairly broad technical skills and are looking for more nimble flexible solutions then this may be the type of approach that works best for you.

Setting Expectations

In presenting and making this work available it is important that you understand that this work requires more than just a technical understanding of the technologies involved. There is also a central design (both functional and technical) behind this work. Using my stuff really requires you to buy into certain design and deployment concepts. It is definitely not for everyone.

If you are looking for a soup to nuts solution you will not find it here. alchemy is a constant work in progress. It grows and involves based upon the projects I am currently engaged in. Having made this statement I also believe in the development principle that says "thou shalt not modify your stuff in any way shape or form that will break other peoples stuff."

I have no intent or desire to turn this into anything more than a loosely coupled set of api's. In many respects I am beginning to post these here so I can better catalogue and find my stuff.

This is definitely not for beginners. There is a lot of code on this site and my sqlinfo.net site that is of a more basic nature. This is not. This stuff is not for beginners or techies new to these technologies.

Can I contribute

I think it was Frederick Brooks in the book "The Mythical Man Month" that said something to the effect that if you want to slow things down put more people on your project.

Not meaning to be rude, what I am trying to say is that allowing participation requires a pretty sizeable investment in time. Right now I run four websites, have a fulltime day job, and beyond that want to have time for my family and other interests. I do not see this changing in the near term.

But, please feel free to take this work, enhance it, do whatever you wish with it within the bounds of the license agreement. I may over time change course on this.

Licensing

In wanting to give you the best options possible this work (Alchemy) is dual licensed under the MIT and GPL licenses.

Essentially the license allows you to use this code in commercial applications. You hold me harmless from any liability regarding this code and how you use it. You pretty much can modify the code to suit your specific needs. You just need to give credit to me as the originator of the code that you are working with.

Obtain alchemy

You can obtain the alchemy framework

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