I’ve been playing lately with Smarty template engine to further enforce the clean cut model-view-controller paradigm on web sites.

Now, I’m forced not to create any HTML code on the model and controller parts of the system, and rely fully on the views. Surprisingly enough, this gives me more freedom for implementing the application logic in the best form conceivable, as I don’t have to care about the layout order imposed by HTML.

The flipside is that the system is slower, but not noticiably so. Speeding up implementation, testing and deployment helps me to focus more and more on performance, both on design and implementation.

One big plus is that I feel like being 20+ again, as that was the previous time I was fooling around with template solutions.

Ateljee Bar has the best views on the town, or over the town. The bar is located on the fourtheenth floor on Sokos Hotel Torni and there are no obstacles anywhere nearby to block the scenery. If you are a buff of metropolitan landscapes, go up there to see the rooftops of Helsinki.

The bar itself is small and quite crammed, but during summertime the big balcony gives some more room to enjoy the drinks and the vista. Please note that you have to climb steep stairs from the floor below, so you’d better not get too drunk while there.

The toilets have floor to ceiling windows, so you can continue enjoying the view and still have enough privacy.

www.ravintolaopas.net/ateljeebar/, Kalevankatu 5, Helsinki, Finland, +358 9 43 360

I’ve been living three months on the countryside and yesterday I found out that it has its effects. I was strolling on the streets of Helsinki, on my way to a meeting. It was biting cold and I was not properly dressed for the weather, so I tried to use warm corridors as much as possible.

While walking on Kaivopiha I suddenly found a new bookstore that sells leftover books. These can be real gems, and yesterday was my lucky day: got four good books with less than 20€.

I chatted with the clerk and she said that the store has been there from the beginning of October! And they will close it down at the end of February. I had no clue whatsoever about the existence of the store. I’m usually fast to find new bookstores, as they are close to my heart.

This left me thinking that what else I may have not seen while living in Espoo. Better reserve one full day in the future to re-explore the city. But it needs to be much warmer day.

Helsinki got its first lifestyle / design hotel a few months ago when hotel Klaus K was opened at Bulevardi. The nightclub of the hotel, Ahjo, follows the bleeding edge design of the rest of the hotel. The upper deck of the club is purely white and you may find the pure white chairs a bit intimidating to sit on. Don’t worry, it’s hotels problem if they get dirty…

The lower deck is really dark, only various shades of grey, sometimes pure and sometimes tinted. The lights are good, so you don’t have to fumble your drinks in darkness and you know who you are talking to.

We visited the place early evening, and it was quiet enough to have a meeting — as an additional perk, Ahjo provides free WLAN access.

www.klauskhotel.com, Bulevardi 2, Helsinki, Finland, +358 20 770 4700

I’ve spent about a half of my free time during the last week with an interesting web application for managing structured information. I started the work from scratch using PHP and managed to get the whole application with a couple dozen different views implemented and tested.

I was really surprised how painless the whole effort was. From the very beginning to the non-bitter end, everything just worked more or less as I had planned.

My productivity skyrocketed compared to the previous PHP + MySQL projects that I’ve undertaken. Mostly due to clever design and reusability.

I re-learned a few key design practices from my past working as a software architect in Java:

• Model-View-Controller (MVC) design pattern helps you to separate actions and page views cleanly, and you don’t get swamped with trickling changes here and there — one of the biggest problems when developing with PHP.
• Separating form handling to a separate class that provided services for creating, displaying, parsing and validating forms and data submissions allowed me to move from the input field level to the conceptual level for organising the information. Default values, validation checks, automatic error messages and filling fields from the form submission speed up development tremendously.
• Using a framework for authenticating users and implementing the MVC main controller helps to separate reusable parts of the code to separate files that can be moved from project to project.

I’ve already started working on the next project that got at least two days head start with the new framework.

Yes, I know there are readymade frameworks available, but I’m trying to avoid bloat and extra functionality that comes from being too generic. My framework fits my projects as a glove, but would probably be a disappointment for someone else having different preferences and ways of thinking control and data flows. In other words, the framework is not available — that is unless you buy some PHP software from me.

If you want to get a culture shock and a glimpse of the idyllic mental image of old times Finnish countryside, go to restaurant Zetor. The restaurant is famous for its traditional Finnish meals, very funky decor, and really odd menus — you have to be careful to understand what you are ordering in reality. Fortunately, the waiters are glad to help.

The decoration is worth of a few mentions. The place looks sort of a old Finnish barn and there are several real tractors (Zetors) used as tables. The walls are covered with Finnish countryside memorabilia that probably does not open to you unless you have a native Finn explaining the nuances.

As a sidenote, the food is also good.

Zetor is located on a prime spot in Helsinki center, between the railway station and Stockmann department store.

www.ravintolazetor.fi, Mannerheimintie 3-5, Helsinki, Finland, +358 9 666 966

Basilica is a good Italian restaurant that is unfortunately located somewhat far away from the Helsinki city centre, in Lauttasaari and in Ruoholahti. The Lauttasaari restaurant, 3-4 kilometers from the railway station, is the original and oldest. They have just opened a new restaurant in Ruoholahti waterfront, reachable by metro.

Basilica’s food is excellent basic Italian foods. No bells and whistles, but just good food and relaxed atmosphere — several types of pasta, pizzas and fine Italian style meat.

They have a short lunch menu every weekday and à la carte menu during evenings and weekends.

www.basilica.fi, Tallbergin puistotie 1 (Lauttasaari) & Kellosaarenranta 2 (Ruoholahti), Helsinki, Finland, +358 9 6216727 (Lauttasaari) & +358 9 755 4066 (Ruoholahti)