In this issue

Many readers have told us that they miss our insights into the Apache server development process. Even the first issue of Apache Week, nearly 5 years ago, contained a section looking at the discussions and developments taking place that week. This new weekly feature will do just that; let us know what you think about it.

This week on the Apache development list, the discussion continues to centre around the new "bucket brigades" API in Apache 2.0, and how to support the old Apache 1.3 interface for generating response data, ap_r*. The topic was raised earlier this month by the re-emergence of Dean Gaudet. The core issue is that the old "ap_r*" interface is currently implemented on top of the new bucket brigades interface, which results in poor performance. Several possible solutions have been presented but the problem has yet to be resolved to the group's satisfaction.

On the Apache 1.3 development front, Tony Finch has insisted that his patch to improve HTTP byte-ranges support be thoroughly tested and reviewed before being checked in, to avoid the problems caused by 1.3.14. The reviews have started to come in, and are all very positive. This patch is the one remaining item on the "show-stoppers" list delaying the release of 1.3.15.

Significant changes that made it into the Apache 2 CVS tree this week are Jim Jagielski's new mechanism for setting build-time compiler flags, and Ryan Bloom's changes to use command-line options rather than environment variables for setting debugging modes.

The Apache 1.3 tree saw some activity as Martin Kraemer switched the code to version 1.1 of the Apache Software License (which removes the advertising clause), and new contributor Victor J. Orlikowski eliminated some races in the pthreads-based accept serialization code.

In this section we highlight some of the articles on the web that are of interest to Apache users.

Apache on Windows NT, how does it compare to Apache on UNIX or other web servers such as IIS? Apache Today has the answer. Windows users who are interested in using Apache but are discouraged by the apparent lack of online information about this topic may like to check this out.

While PHP is easy to learn, it is another story when it comes to getting it right. In his three part article series, Sterling Hughes imparts some advice on how to prevent 21 common mistakes made by PHP programmers. It is worthwhile to read through the list of textbook, serious, and deadly mistakes, and give yourself a pat on the back if you have managed to avoid all of them.

Meanwhile, Doug Sheppard talks about "Doing It Right the First Time" in the last part of the Beginner's Intro to Perl series. He stresses the importance of writing good software that is readable and maintainable.

It is back to the basics as Linux Journal looks at how web servers handle dynamic content using legacy languages like C/C++ and Fortran. mod_fortran anyone?