Latest Posts - Page 142 of 198

September 21, 2018September 13, 2018 Free and Low Cost Tools

Code Review and Analysis Tools (Free and Low-Cost)

There have been a lot of excellent free and low-cost reviewed already. However, this week we continue our “shopping” with a look at code review and analysis applications. This used to be an area where all of the solutions were pricey. Fortunately, SAAS options, improved automation, and well-defined best practices (with a touch of open source) have made these affordable. Yes, even the individual developer can find affordable options. Keep It Cheap There are a lot of great tools available in this area that also have a high price tag. We will skip those this time as we want to focus on options for small teams down to individuals. I have found these useful even in little applications like the one created in Season... Read more

September 19, 2018September 13, 2018 Patterns of Software Design

Software Patterns – The Builder

In this episode, we look at the Builder pattern. This one is another creational pattern that helps us construct the class instances for our application. It is another pattern that could be skipped through brute-force and a wide range of constructors, but I think you will see this is a much better approach. The Builder Defined It helps to start with the “Gang of Four” definition and then we will dig into that. Separate the construction of a complex object from its representation so that the same construction process can create different representations. This is a pattern that I think we can all easily buy into. When you have a class that is more than a few values, and it has actual... Read more

September 18, 2018September 12, 2018 Become a Better Developer

Learning Development Languages – A Roadmap

One of the easily recognized ways to become a better developer is the act of learning development languages. We all know that new tools show up regularly and force us to add new skills or become obsolete. Although it is important to add new skills due to technological advancements, there are also existing tools that we need to learn. Create a Roadmap A task of this scale needs a plan. That will make it easier to track progress and find paths that achieve the goal with the most efficiency. Learning development languages is a task that can be greatly improved by looking at similarities between them. There is also a financial benefit to mapping out new skills that are in... Read more

September 17, 2018September 13, 2018 A Summary Of Amazon Services

AWS Database Services – Relational to Big Data

The AWS database group of services is positioned to cover any need you have for storing and accessing data. We have looked at files and general storage. These services are more specific and are true database solutions Aurora The popularity of MySQL and PostgreSQL was recognized by Amazon. Thus, they saw that a high-speed solution that was compatible with those SQL platforms was going to be worthwhile. They have made it easy and cost-effective to spin up an Aurora instance. I highly recommend you take a look at it for your needs. The setup alone will reduce your headaches even while providing enterprise-class availability and backups. The Classics You may want to stick to a database engine you know. That is ok... Read more

September 14, 2018September 7, 2018 Free and Low Cost Tools

Project and Task Management Applications (Free and Low Cost)

In this episode, we look at some free and low-cost task management applications. Some of these do more and add on project management or even invoicing features. However, they do all help you keep track of the work you (and your team) need to get done. Many Excellent Options If you spend a few minutes and peruse the massive list of potential tools in this area from G2Crowd (see link below), then you will see there are almost too many options. When you need to find the best tool for you in this realm, then a search with additional keywords will help. A field of options this numerous needs to be reduced to make any progress. I recommend you improve your search... Read more

September 12, 2018September 7, 2018 Patterns of Software Design

Software Patterns – The Abstract Factory

In this episode, we look at the Abstract Factory pattern. This is a creational pattern which means it has to do with creating and utilizing class instances. There is also a Factory pattern that will be covered later in the series. The Abstract Factory Defined It helps to start with the “Gang of Four” definition and then we will dig into that. Provides an interface for creating families of related or dependent objects without specifying their concrete classes. This may seem a bit abstract. However, it is a crucial cog in creating an object-oriented application or system. As always, the real world provides us with some good examples of how this would be used. Think of an automobile factory. Within a complex, there... Read more