Oops

Work and life got in the way of the tutorial. After having some time away from it, I think I'm going to move in slightly different direction. The new version of a number of the tools I normally use have been released or revised. NetBeans for Java development. ASP MVC for Dotnet and I finally moved to VS2008 for development. I was going to start using LINQ, but the new Entity framework looks like it going to run roughshod over it, so I'm going to hold off for now.

Deciding on an area of new technology to learn has become a very finicky endeavor. As a consultant, you want to make the right choice so your marketability stays up to date, but companies change direction frequently enough that if you spend too much time specializing, you get left behind and have to play catch up. The only sure things are Web-based application will continue to be needed and Java and C# are the two primary languages for providing the foundation of the applications.

Gift List Part 1 - OOP

Object Oriented Programming - What is it? We've all heard it bandied about in our tech circles. Some of us have even had the opportunity to use it. According to Wikipedia:

"Object-oriented programming (OOP) is a programming paradigm that uses "objects" and their interactions to design applications and computer programs. Programming techniques may include features such as encapsulation, modularity, polymorphism, and inheritance. It was not commonly used in mainstream software application development until the early 1990s. Many modern programming languages now support OOP."

Okay, so what does that mean to someone just starting out? It means you find the most generic "thingy" that will be used in your application and build on that, ie if you're writing a banking system, the two most basic items are accounts and customers. You may have checking, savings, certificates of deposits, etc for the types of accounts while the customers may be businesses or personal, senior or student, and so on.

For the sample application I'm going to be writing, I'm using a gift list used by my wife and I to keep track of all the gifts we give and receive. The two basic items will be gifts and people. The gifts will have various properties and there may be additional types that extend the basic structure, same for the people. If they're not family, we probably don't care about anniversaries.

So much for OOP. Next will be TDD, followed by the first class.

Cheers,
Chris

New series

I'm going to write a short primer on OOP using TDD. You may ask why would we ever need another series on object oriented programming using test driven development? We probably don't but it's like a math textbook. There are multiple variation of Calculus textbooks, not including the regular revisions made to a particular book, so a professor can find the one that best suits his style. I found it helpful to look at other texts with other examples to see how you approach a problem and the best method for solving it.

In these series, I'm going to steer clear of the standard auto/sports/banking/address examples and create something I find useful for myself and maybe others will too. I'm going to create a gift log system. If your family is anything like mine, there are multiple sets of parents/grandparents/uncles & aunts and cousins, not to mention siblings, that you give and receive presents from/to. We have a small spreadsheet that we keep tally on so we know who and what we gave and received so we don't accidentally give the same gift or appear to be regifting.

The other thing that should differentiate this attempt from others will be the fact that I'm going to provide samples in C#, VB.NET and Java. There have been many times I've searched for a solution for a client only to find it written in a language they don't/won't use and I don't have a good way to translate the example I find so here I'm going to cover the major languages in use right now. If there's a new one that rises to the top, I'll rework it in the samples.

Cheers,
Chris

Thoughts 2.0

It's been a long sabbatical I've been on since my last post. I've travelled the world for business and pleasure. I've looked at possibly changing jobs but ultimately deciding to stay where I am. The tech world has had a couple of major shake ups: the new iPhone, Google's Chrome, Microsoft trying for Yahoo, the new Microsoft servers, the explosion of the netbook, and on and on.

I'm fully behind all the advances we are seeing, but there appears to be a lack of direction for most of the new devices and technology. Look at Microsoft's DotNet stack. What started as a small, concise collection of libraries that eased the development process has now become a large, nasty web of expansive libraries that now require a specialization to fully utilize.

The netbook is another prime example. It was a nice little device that worked beautifully for what it was designed to do. Now, all the manufacturers are developing larger, more powerful machines that will shortly rival the complexity of a budget laptop at a premium price.

This is the boon and bane of capitalism. Manufacturers will build what the consumer asks for and the consumer always wants more. Just because we can build it and they will come, doesn't mean it's good for them to be there so maybe we shouldn't build it.

Chris

State of programming

In my normal browsing, I ran across the following article on the STSC site.

Where Are the Software Engineers of Tomorrow?

It validates my belief of using the appropriate tool to accomplish the job at hand. There is no single language suited to aptly solve every issue, just as there has never been a hardware platform designed for all environments. As in carpentry, the key to being successful is knowing which tool in your toolbox will allow you to complete the task at hand.

Dry spell

It's definitely a challenge to find the time to write about technology and how you feel about it when you're busy working neck deep in it. Sometimes it stinks to have to work for a living.

Anyway, I came across an article last week that peeked my interest. (http://tinyurl.com/248zq3) It talked about the relegation of Java to the realm of archaic languages in the vein of COBOL. The main points being the emergence of Microsoft's .Net platform and the availability of PHP and Ruby.

I agree Java has lost it's stranglehold on enterprise solutions with the advent of .Net but to say it is rapidly becoming an archaic language it taking it to the extreme. Java has grown and been enhanced due to the competition provided by .Net in the enterprise. Competition is just as important in the development world as it is in the business world.

Also, I don't believe Java has lost major ground to PHP or Ruby because the developers who focus on those two would have chosen the old version of ASP since the majority of hosting services offer PHP, and possibly Ruby, as part of their starter packages similar to the way they used to with the old ASP.

Overall, I feel there is room for all the various tools available to a developer since each one has its own individual place.

Blogging

As I have been going through the exercise/experience of blogging, I've come to realize exactly how difficult it is if it isn't part of your day to day job. Or at least if you want to create coherent, logical posts. There are a number of blogs which follow the stream of consciousness belief. While that allows for some quick posting, the nature of the internet means that post will be available for searching by anyone, anytime for the foreseeable future. While that doesn't necessarily pose a problem for the family note blogs, it does allow future employers a chance at seeing the personal side of their candidates. Or anyone who's interested in digging into a person past such as reported looking into a political candidate, a CEO, a celebrity, or even college coaches.

Like most things we create, blogs are neither good or bad. It's only how they are used so a word of advice, if you don't want it known, don't put it out there.