Latest Posts - Page 144 of 199

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

September 10, 2018September 7, 2018 Become a Better Developer

Escalating A Situation and When To Go Over The Head of Your Boss

. A recent article I read focused on whether it is good for a manager to throw their employees under the bus. I was thinking about this and turned it around to employees throwing their manager under the bus. The two situations are not quite the same. However, I think it is an excellent way to view the case when you have to go to the boss of your boss. The Last Resort I think that it needs to be clear up front that this sort of escalation should only be considered after exhausting other options. A boss that is either not communicating or not understanding is not a good enough reason on its own. There should be a thorough and... Read more

September 10, 2018September 7, 2018 A Summary Of Amazon Services

AWS Storage Services – Low Cost Cloud Space

In this episode, we take a look at the AWS storage services group. This includes some of the older services like S3 and elastic block storage. If you have not had a look at these offerings recently, then it is worth your time to get reacquainted with them. Fast to Slow Access One of the primary differences in storage types is how fast (or slow) the data can be accessed. The Simple Storage Service (S3) has become an almost ubiquitous service for websites and document storage platforms. This is easy to use, and many tools (including WordPress) have plugins that make it easy to offload static files (images and even CSS or JavaScript) to S3 as a form of CDN. The access... Read more

September 7, 2018September 1, 2018 Free and Low Cost Tools

Financial and Accounting Applications (Free and Low Cost)

This first episode of the season on free and low-cost tools looks at finance and accounting applications. I assume that these will not be the most fun and exciting applications we cover. However, they will be some of the most critical to any business. Accounting Applications For You As we go over the applications in this episode, it is essential for you to remember that the best tools will be the one that works the closest to your current processes. When you find yourself fighting against your application, then it is time for a change. These tools have a range of features and types of business that they focus on. The good news is that there are free trial periods available for each... Read more

September 5, 2018September 1, 2018 Patterns of Software Design

A Look at Software Design Patterns

This season will take a look at the software design patterns that we should know. Each episode will dig into a pattern and how to implement it. Some of these will be very familiar, and some may open your mind to a whole new approach to software solutions. In this first episode of the season, we look at why patterns matter at all. Proper Object-Oriented Design Software design patterns are the next logical steps once you are comfortable with OOD. It is one thing to create objects to model your system. However, patterns show us ways to use objects to model functionality and even bootstrap our applications with core object-oriented programming principles. There are four main aspects of object-oriented programming. Encapsulation... Read more