History

2002: The first version of the game, a PC desktop application

The first version of the Skip-Bo was issued in 2002. That doesn't make us younger... In fact I don't know for sure the date of the first version: I have changed several times my PC, I changed my development tool (or version of it)... and in the mean time I have also thrown away my Microsoft Windows operating system, migrated to a Linux operating system (first Ubuntu, then Debian). That's why I have only vague memories of the real beginning.

One thing I can rely on, is that I still have image files of the first cards, dated first of March, 2002. I had personnally created those images with a painting tool. Except for the Joker, which had been designed by my son when he was very young. I was proud of this image, but later I changed it because it was somehow inspired from the image of James Bond on a VHS film cover.

2009: the first web version

The first Skip-Bo had been written in the "Java" programming language. At that time, developing this game in Java was just a way to enhance my knowledge of an object oriented language, which I did not yet practice at work.

The first Skip-Bo could only run as a desktop application. This was limiting the chances of distributing it. And there were so many operating systems (Apple, Windows, Linux, etc.)... it would have been impossible for me to develop and test the program on each system: It was too much time consuming, and I did not have enough material. So I wrapped my sources with a new display interface (Java Applets), which allowed me to be web-compatible and to create the anisor website. With this, no need to download or install anything on the PC, it was possible to play directly in the browser and it was always the most recent version of the game.

So the 9th of January, 2009, I could register the "anisor.ch" domain name at switch.ch (the only registrar for Switzerland in those times). Why this name, anisor.ch? Simply because the domain "rosina.ch" had already been deposited. So I chose anisor reversing the letters of rosina.

From 2009 to 2018: Variable website's visitors number

For about ten years the site was regularly being visited by internet users coming from many countries. There had never been big crowds, but almost every day there were some visitors: often less than ten, some times several dozens. In total, anisor.ch has been visited by people coming from more than 90 countries, and from all continents. I learnt this from automatic statistics produced by my web hosting provider. I could not learn more details (and did not really search if it was possible to learn more). People were playing, I was satisfied with that.

Suprisingly, the origin of the visitors was changing regularly. In the beginning most of them were from Canada or Netherlands. Then their number decreased, replaced by others who mostly came from France, USA, China, Poland or Germany. And I was pleased wecoming visitors from so many different countries, like: Kenia, Malaysia, Costa Rica, Egypt, India, Morocco, Madagascar, Mexico, Philippines, Vietnam, Honduras, Argentina, Lithuania, Australia... The list is too long to report here.

2013: a new Java version causes a drop of the statistics

Since Java 7 (Update 51) was release, there was a reinforcement of the security rules. The Java Applets were not supported any more. There was not a brutal and immediately visible decrease, but as soon as people changed their computer with a new one, they lost the ability to run the game on the internet. They could not find the necessary plugin any more. After several years gently losing visitors, we still had people playing, but definitely less than before. And some days there were no visitors at all, wich nearly never happened before.

2018: The Skip-Bo is rewritten in PHP language

The PHP language allowed me to replace the old "Applets" technology which is not supported any more. With PHP, you still don't have to download anything, you just play directly in your browser. That makes it easier for everybody.

I have a little regret anyway: to communicate with the server, the browser now uses the Javascript language. From my point of view the Javascript is more permissive and more dangerous than the Java Applets. Why block Java Applets and not Javascript? The only difference is that you cannot block the Javascript, because without it, most of the websites would stop running.

2019: The Skip-Bo is releases as an App for Android

For this hard work, I could keep a part of the Skip-Bo logic. But the systems are not totally compatibles, particularly with the display layer (screen handling, animations, user's interactions). I had much work to do in rewriting code before being able to publish the App.

There is also a big default of comprehension, by the Android conceptors, of the real needs of the users regarding the language choice: I am not a big organization, I could translate the Skip-Bo only in four languages, and it was already a lot of work. Impossible for me to translate the application in more that 180 languages, except if I used translating robots, which results are very poor (when they do not inspire pity!). The problem is that if the Skip-Bo is not translated in the language of your smartphone, the App will appear in the "default language", which must be defined once for all. As default language, I chose the English, because it is more common than the three other languages (French, Italian, German).

The result is: if the system's language is Turkish, Chinese or Spanish, Skip-Bo will be displayed in English. Android will never give you a chance to select another available language for a single application, even if it would suit you more.

So I did it my way. I suffered enough, but as workaround I succeeded in writing my own language handling system. When you launch the Skip-Bo, systematically you have to select among the available languages.

Last remark: I let the Android App aside since a lot of years. It is still a prototype. It is fair enough to play with, but there are plenty of defaults. It will take much time to me before I'm motivated again to enhance this version.

2024: Migration to https

The anisor site used the http protocol, which was not the best thing, but it was not so important because the program does not handle sensible matters. Neverthless, the web is changing and more and more web browsers are blocking the sites using this protocol, or display alarming warnings to the visitors, pretending that the site is dangerous.

I finally found some time to migrate to the https protocol, though it was not such a big deal to work on it. The "s" of https simply means "secured". This means that the dialog between your web browser and the anisor server is encrypted, so more secure. In fact, this does not change so much for the anisor's visitors, but at least the site is not blocked anymore and the browser no longer shows alarming messages.

2024: PHP version replacement

The PHP is the programming language which I am using for the site. Its the PHP which generates the pages you are seeing, and when you play it's the PHP which analyses the game, plays against you, moves the cards on the display, etc.

The PHP which I was using was outdated, some new wersions were available, with useful fixes. So I installed a newer version on my computer, and seeing that the site still worked as well, I configured this version on anisor.ch.

2024: Download version for PC back in service

I finally found enough time and courage to renew the Skip-Bo, with some enhancements of the "engine" and of the technic. I could also redeploy the installation program, which is based on the IzPack software. The anisor site now offers this new version on the download page

If you like, instead of playing on the anisor site, you can istall the program on your computer. Its way more complete, better to play, and in addition the Skip-Bo can store your preferences to reload them when you restart the program. The site cannot do that, it does not save your preferences, because there is no required connection, nor cookies written on your computer, and I'm not tracking you in any way. I'm sure that ou do appreciate that nothing asks you to accept cookies to access the site (it's so annoying)... but the price to pay for this is, that at each visit on the site, you must browse the menus to redefine your preferences.