Jonathan Stark Author / Instructor Jonathan Stark Consulting

Over the past few years, Jonathan Stark has become known in the FileMaker community as one of only a handful of FileMaker / Web gurus. He is especially known as an expert in how to integrate FileMaker databases with the Web using the FileMaker API for PHP. His 2007 book, Web Publishing with PHP and FileMaker 9 (which I reviewed earlier this week), further established Jonathan as an expert in this area.

In this interview with Jonathan, he tells us how he came to be interested in FileMaker, the Web, and some of the exciting Web sites that he has been working on -- including the popular Tittr Web site (a photo sharing application for the iPhone). Enjoy!


In your bio, you state that, "Jonathan is reluctant to admit that he began his programming career more than 20 years ago on a Tandy TRS-80." Why the relucatance? (I started on the "Trash-80" myself!) And how, exactly, did you find your way into the world of IT?
The reluctance was more about the amount of elapsed time than the hardware ;)

Like a lot of FileMaker developers, my path to IT began with music. In the early 90s I graduated from Berklee College of Music in Boston. I was doing the solo singer/songwriter thing and spent a fair amount of time trying to drum up attendance at my shows. Toward that end, I set up a mailing list database to manage my monthly postcard blast (this was still before the average person had an email address). I knew absolutely nothing about databases and didn't even have a computer, but a good friend lent me an old laptop that had a copy of MS Access on it. I just banged away until I figured out how to set up what I needed.

As time passed, I found that I was actually enjoying the database programming. At the same time, music was not paying the bills. One thing lead to another, and I eventually ended up employed full-time as a programmer in the advertising department at Staples. Turned out that programming paid a lot better than music and was just as creative. Plus, I was never really that great of a musician.


Tell us about your company, Jonathan Stark Consulting, Inc. What led you to start your own business? What types of services do you provide?
I spent a few years as the VP at The Moyer Group, during which time I learned an awful lot. After several years of working for a recognized leader in the industry, I had a few ideas about how to build a better mousetrap. Most of the ideas were not a good fit for TMG, so I eventually ventured off to put my money where my mouth was. January 1st, 2008 marked the 1 year anniversary of Jonathan Stark Consulting, and so far my "better mousetrap" is working out great (knock on wood).

I offer four services:
1) Consulting - I give you advice
2) Development - I build stuff for you
3) Training - I teach you how to build stuff
4) Mentoring - I teach you how to do what I do

All services are usually centered around web applications. They often involve FileMaker, but not always. During my first year of business, most of my clients were interested in consulting and development. Honestly, I have had very few people interested in training. Now that I have the administrative parts of running my own business under control, I am excited to start devoting more energy to mentoring other developers so they can build their businesses.


You've done work for some impressive clients, including Staples and Turner Broadcasting. Of all of the development projects that you've been involved with, what's the one that you're the most proud of? And why?
Hmm... that's sort of like asking me what my favorite movie is. There are so many ways to measure the success of a project that it's hard to single one out.

My favorites are usually the ones that improve the client's quality of life the most. For example, I have one solution running for a training company in Chicago that is used to manage their class schedule. It's basically an event management solution with some bells and whistles like email campaign management, public and private online calendaring, automated reminders for both students and teachers, etc. Overall, the programming is very simple and straight-forward - nothing fancy at all. However, the client says that the system has revolutionized they way they work. They are so happy with it that I believe that they are working with Kevin Mallon at FileMaker to get a case study up on FileMaker.com. That level of customer satisfaction is what I strive for, so when it works out that way, it does feel good.


Can you tell us about some of the projects that you are working on now?
I am always uncomfortable getting into the details of client work without getting their permission, but I can tell you about a couple of things I have cooking on my own. For example, I have a couple of web apps that Apple.com posted on their list of iPhone applications late last year. One of them was in the top ten most popular social networking apps for several weeks, which I thought was really cool.

The first one is called GossipDB (gossipdb.com), which is a searchable database of celebrity gossip feeds. Not exactly high art, but *damn* is that thing addictive. Check it out - I betcha can't read just one. I built it as a proof of concept for a project that never materialized. When the iPhone came out, it was a perfect fit for a mobile Safari3 CSS makeover. Some day I will make good on my original intention for the site, which is to build up a long enough timeline of celebrity gossip that I can then plot it against timelines of international news feeds to see if the American media really is trying to drown out distasteful news with Britney's latest escapades.

The other iPhone app is a photo sharing application called Tittr (tittr.com). This one really seems to be taking off - it's had over 100,000 pageviews in the last 30 days. It's sort of a cross between Flickr and Twitter (hence the name) and combines elements of social networking with micro blogging. I am having a lot of fun working on it because I have never had a site with that much traffic. It's truly amazing to see how effortlessly the LAMP stack scales from handling 10 hits a day to 10,000.


What's a "day in the life of Jonathan Stark" like? Do you have a certain routine that you like to follow? A favorite time or place to work?
I don't have a particular routine in terms of time or space. It all depends on my commitments for the day. In general, I am online every waking moment, whether it's in my house, at the local Starbucks, or some other public wifi location. If I have any intense programming to do, it's usually between 11PM and 5AM because I find that that is the only time of day I can get into the right state of mind.


You are known in the FileMaker community as one of the few FileMaker/Web gurus, especially with regards to FileMaker and PHP. Tell us how you came to be interested in integrating FileMaker with the Web.
Wow, FileMaker/Web guru? Thanks. Can I quote you? ;)

Some background... I remember exactly where I was the very first time I saw a web page. It was late to the internet party - probably around '91. My best friend's girlfriend had a tech job and she had a laptop at home and a dial up connection. My buddy showed me some news site and was like, "Dude, this document is not on this machine!" I was flabbergasted. I kept asking him, "Well, then where is it?" He tried to explain, but either he didn't know enough about it or I just didn't get it.

The seed was planted. Right away I saw the internet as the NEXT BIG THING. It seemed to offer a solution that side-stepped so many entrenched, seemingly intractable problems. Bear in mind that at the time, I was a musician and my enemy was corporate radio. I hated that I didn't have a good way to distribute my music and I fantasized about the democratization of broadcasting. Of course, that - along with a million other things - has come to pass, for better or worse.

The thing is, the Web is just moving out of its infancy. I don't think anyone can even imagine where it will be in ten years. The power to communicate on such an enormous and instantaneous scale is game changing. A lot of people talk about the internet being a "revolution", as if to compare it to the industrial revolution or something. I think it's bigger than that. I know this might sound like the ravings of a madman, but I believe that the internet actually represents a major step in the biological evolution of the human race.

Okay, enough of my love letter to the internet. In answer to your question...

Around the time I started becoming comfortable with web programming, FMSA7 came out which allowed for simultaneous connections to the database via XML. Lots of existing FileMaker customers wanted to make the leap to 7, at least in part because of the enhanced web publishing capabilities. Chris Hansen (the original FileMaker/PHP web guru) had already written FX.php to take the heavy lifting out of the process, so it just made sense to start learning it.

My first web project was twelvetwentyfive.com, which I wrote as an exercise to learn PHP. I couldn't justify the expense of a FileMaker Server Advanced license for a pet project, so I wrote the whole thing using text files on the web server to store the user data. I made a ton of silly mistakes, of course, but I am a "learn by doing" type of guy. Eventually I ported the site over to MySQL because it's free, you can install it on Linux, and I wanted to start sharpening up my SQL skills.



Over the past few years, the FileMaker community seems to have more fully embraced the idea of using PHP (and especially the FileMaker API for PHP) to integrate FileMaker with the Web. What do you attribute that to?
I assume that FileMaker developers gravitate to PHP (as opposed to other middleware) because it's mature, well documented, pretty easy to learn, and available everywhere. Oh yeah, it's also fast, free, non-proprietary, and runs on every OS that you can shake a stick at. The FileMaker API for PHP just makes the interaction between your PHP code and FileMaker Server that much more "FileMaker-ish" and therefore, easier to learn for people who are already familiar with FM.


Your book, Web Publishing with PHP and FileMaker 9, is a great resource for those who are looking to learn more about integrating FileMaker with the Web (as well as those who are already experienced in that area). What led you to write the book? What was it like writing it? What has the reaction to the book been?
Truth be told, SAMS contacted me out of the blue. I was totally shocked and flattered. I had previously had a book deal with another publisher as a co-author and it didn't end up working out. When the PHP/FM book opportunity materialized, I jumped at it.

The editorial process was amazing. There were something like four or five editors, each with a different focus. It was a real team effort and quite a learning experience. If I hadn't been working full-time while I was writing it, I would have loved the process. I pulled more than a few all-nighters and was still always behind schedule.

The reaction to the book has been overwhelmingly positive. It really seems to be just what the doctor ordered for folks who are just getting started in web publishing. I wanted to write a book that a total beginner could pick up and use right away. At times I caught flack from the editors for too much spoon feeding, but I am glad I stuck to my guns. Based on the feedback I have gotten, we ended up with the right balance of material for the target reader.



Back in August of 2006, you published (along with Chris Hansen) a very helpful comparison of FX.php and the FileMaker API for PHP. At the time, FX.php had been around for awhile and the FileMaker API for PHP (also known as FileMaker.php) was in beta. Since then, FileMaker.php has gone through some changes and has been officially released by FileMaker. Do you prefer to use one class over the other? If so, why? And what do you think of FileMaker Inc.'s work on FileMaker.php?
Well, I am not exactly impartial. After writing a book on FileMaker.php I pretty much have it memorized, so I tend to use it a lot more than FX.php. I think that if you already know FX, there is not a compelling reason to switch to FileMaker.php. Unless maybe you are going to be using the PHP Site Assistant and need to modify the code.

I think FileMaker did a really good job on both FileMaker.php and the PHP Site Assistant. Like any v1 software, there are some bugs here and there. I wish that FMI could fix them faster than they do, but overall, it's pretty impressive.


How important is FileMaker.php to FileMaker Inc and to the FileMaker community?
I think FileMaker is in a weird place. They have a huge installed base, which is great, but the concept of desktop software seems to be going away. I think I could make a nice living doing FileMaker development for the rest of my life, but what kind of work would it be? Fun, cutting edge stuff or tedious patches to legacy software systems?

IMHO, FileMaker needs to continue getting more and more web-friendly if they want to remain relevant. FileMaker.php and the PHP Site Assistant are great steps in the right direction. The fact that FMI included FileMaker.php in the base version of FMS 9 was huge. The integration of the Server Admin Console was a smart move as well. I hope to see this progression continue.

Secretly, I have my fingers crossed for a FileMaker web publishing option that is so radically easy that it will make FileMaker.php irrelevant. Drag, drop, and deploy. Something my dad could use to build web apps. Obviously, it would have to live up to the "legendary easy of use" slogan for that to work ;) But seriously, FMI has the user base, the track record, and the reputation to pull off something like that. Not many companies can say that.


What do you think of the new PHP Site Assistant? Do you use it yourself?
I have not used it in production, but then again, I am not the target market. I know a lot of people are using it because I get tons of questions about it through my website. I think it is really well done - useful, powerful, and best of all, educational for the developer. It still has a few rough edges, but I am willing to bet that we'll see growth there in the near term.


You presented at DevCon 2007. What are your thoughts on DevCon 2007? What was it like to be a presenter? And will we see you at DevCon 2008?
I love DevCon and I had a good time at 2007. Since I work remotely pretty much 100% of the time, it's my one chance every year to see my fellow geeks get their annual drink on. I even have a couple customers that make the trek out. In terms of the show itself, as a presenter, I don't get to go to many of the sessions because I am either prepping for my talk, meeting with customers, drinking by the pool, etc... ;)

Being a presenter was great. I am passionate about my work, so to have the opportunity to present to such a large group of like-minded individuals is truly an honor. Sure, it's a lot of work to prep for and I get butterflies leading up to the presentation, but once things get rolling, it's a blast.

I hope to present at DevCon 2008. I submitted 4 session proposals, all web publishing related. We'll see what happens. I have my fingers crossed.


I noticed in one of your blog posts that you seem to be as impressed as I have been with Scodigo's SmartPill PHP Edition plug-in. Have you been using the plug-in? If so, in what ways?
At the time I made that post, I didn't really know Micah or the gang at Scodigo, but in the interest of full-disclosure, I have done some work for them since then and have used the plugin quite a bit on their projects. In any case... SmartPill blows me away, and that is coming from a guy who's not a fan of plugins. Scodigo just released a beta of the new version and it has even more eye-popping features. Plus, the documentation and sample files look great. The people at Scodigo are real pros and do a great job. I would recommend that anyone using FileMaker get familiar with SmartPill.


Are there other plug-ins, tools, or techniques that you've found particularly helpful with regards to your FileMaker development work?
I have used Metadata Magic for dozens of conversions and it's been indispensable. In terms of techniques, squids and naming scripts like function prototypes come to mind, but those are just things I came up with for my own sanity. I am sure a lot of people would would say they both suck.



On your site, you write that you "have forever been interested in two things: computers and music." Are you involved in music in any way today? If so, how?
I did the music business thing for a long time and it really soured me on the whole endeavor. After a long hiatus, I am just getting back to remembering why it was fun in the first place. So, now I just play around the campfire, or the occasional jam session with family or friends. Other than that, I don't really play.


If I managed to steal your iPod, what would I find in your Recently Played playlist?
Lots of John Mayer, Back to Black by Amy Winehouse, and that Feist album from the iPhone commercials. I also have Miles, Coltrane, and Hendrix in heavy rotation. I recently bought a Bob Wills collection off of iTunes that I used to have on cassette and totally love.



Are you involved in any of the FileMaker Pro User Groups. If so, how has being involved in the group benefited you?
I have been to a few in Atlanta over the years, but I am not really active. I have a FileMaker dev buddy named Graham Sprague up in my area and we've been talking about going to the Boston user group but have not made it there yet.


What are your favorite things to do that don't involve work?
I assume you mean with my pants on, right? ;)

Playing guitar, skiing, going to the gym, and scoring monster kills in Unreal Tournament.


Are you working on any other FileMaker books?
Not at the moment, but I would love to write another book.


What can we expect next from Jonathan Stark? Do you have any big plans or goals for 2008?
I am really looking forward to having time to develop the mentoring program in 2008. There is a real need for good FileMaker developers and I think that my time would be well spent working with folks who want to take their game to the next level.


Thanks, Jonathan!

Want to learn more about Jonathan Stark? Visit his Web site, located at http://jonathanstark.com/.

Are you a FileMaker Addict? Interested in your 15 minutes of fame? Let me know!