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Reinventing The Wheel

Website software has a short shelf life. Often, when written in scripting languages such as Perl, or PHP, your website can stop working overnight for no apparent reason. There are several contributing factors to this issue.

First and foremost, the software that runs the web server where your site is hosted is continuously being updated. At least it should be.

Every day, new security vulnerabilities are exposed. Some creative hacker will find a way to make good code do bad things, or he or she will find a new way to send thousands of pieces of junk mail before you can get through your first cup of coffee.

Server software updates are designed to protect your site, your business and customer data, and the network of your hosting company. Those same updates can, on occasion, cause your site to stop working.

Every few years, new versions of most scripting languages are released. New features are added, old bugs - undocumented features in the programmer's lingo - are attended to and the potential to break something, or multiple somethings that worked in the previous release is enhanced.

Depending on the nature of the failure, either of these scenarios can be time consuming to track down the exact issue and you will most likely be charged for the time spent in doing so. Note, this does not fall into the category of "paying for somebody to learn" the software. Tracking down issues with errors related to software upgrades requires someone already familiar with that language, and the expertise to know not only the solution when they find it, but how and where to implement it.

One other, major contributor to website software ceasing to function can be shortcuts taken by a previous programmer. In a rush to get done, get paid, and move on to the next project, some programmers will take advantage of dangerous shortcuts - think bugs - and write sloppy code. That, or they are too lazy, or incapable of doing it correctly.

When you add sloppy code to server upgrades, you can end up with a seemingly infinite mess. Sorting it out can be a long, frustrating nightmare when combined with version upgrades at or near the same time.

What should you do if your site stops working? If there has been a major release of the language your site is coded in, i.e. version 4 to version 5, you should consider having it rewritten. There could be security issues with your older code, or there could be lingering or infrequent errors, even after all the obvious ones are fixed.

If your site has been running on the original PHP or Perl for several years, you should consider having it redone, even if there are no current problems with it. Security considerations, again, come into play here, both for your site, and potentially for the hosting company's entire server.

A redo, or rebuild will also give you a chance to assess your site's current capabilities, function and content to determine if it still does what you need it to everyday, and does so in a manner that is beneficial and profitable to your business.

Sometimes, you really should reinvent the wheel.

Learn more about this author, Michael Raymond.
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