Project History
The project is a result of three factors: taking a network engineering class, my desire to better my PHP programming abilities, and my inability to walk away from a challenge. To specify, we started a section in my network engineering class on performing network calculations the old fashioned way, with arithmetic, pencils, and paper. The next class, the professor (David Pratt), provided us with a web based subnet calculator to check our work against.
He then stated not to rely on the web app to do our homework, as it obviously would not be available to us during our test. Someone then asked (not me!), "If we write our own subnet calculator, can we use it?" To which the Mr. Pratt replied in the affirmative, not truly expecting anyone to take on the extra work. Heh. My motivation was provided.
The second factor in the equation is my desire to better learn both PHP and implementing it as an object oriented language. David Pratt was also my professor in my PHP/MySQL class the prior semester, so there is a certain confluence of reasons for undertaking the project. This seemed like a wonderful opportunity to stretch my programming abilities. (This project was undertaken just about one year after I wrote my first line of any type of code. I am very much a novice, but I am whole heartedly enjoying learning.)
The last factor is my inherent inability to let a challenge lie... perhaps I wasn't given enough hugs as a child, but I have an untameable desire to tilt at windmills. Thus, this project was born. Over a two week period during the subnetting portion of the course, I applied the knowledge learned there to the application. I also pulled some long forgotten boolean arithmetic out of the dark vaults of my mind to make it work. With a little help from Google, of course. Nonetheless, this project is entirely my work. I didn't see the point in copying someone else's code to do it... that would defeat the entire purpose.
A rough version was introduced in early Novemeber 2008, with a polished revision following on the 16th. I hope you find the web application to be both easy to use and useful.
