DevPinoy.org

VirtualBox article

cruizer — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 06:20:00 GMT

Wow, I haven't updated this blog for quite some time. I'm finding out it's true: Twitter kills blogging. Anyway, my VirtualBox how-to article is out! For those of you who have been hiding under a rock (?), VirtualBox is a freely-available virtualization solution that is now owned by Oracle because of its purchase of Sun. The article is in the LinTech! section of the Philippine Online Chronicles ....(read more)

Should I cache the java.sql.DataSource?

lamia — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 06:55:00 GMT

Yes!

While trying to brush up and plain Servlets and JSP, I was trying to improve on architecture and I happen to read the MySQL connector/J documentation. I was wondering if I should cache the DataSource or just create a call to JNDI everytime I invoke a database service on the application level.

        /*
          * Lookup the DataSource, which will be backed by a pool
          * that the application server provides. DataSource instances
          * are also a good candidate for caching as an instance
          * variable, as JNDI lookups can be expensive as well.
          */

Random Updates

C++ Soup! — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 16:17:30 GMT

For most of the later part of January and almost the whole of February I’ve been pre-occupied with some of my consulting work. There were some huge news that I wanted to share but didn’t find the time to share with the world through my blog. Here’s a quick run-down of the things that have [...]...(read more)

Clang Almost Ready for Boost!

C++ Soup! — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 15:55:16 GMT

One of the cooler projects I believe out there in the open source world is Clang — a ground-up implementation of a C/C++ front-end for LLVM. Thanks to a status message by Joel Falcou I looked at the cfe-dev mailing list archive and found this: I decided to see how well clang++ currently does at compiling [...]...(read more)

Advantages of C over C++?!

C++ Soup! — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 20:24:25 GMT

Just after writing a piece about how C++ can be faster than C, I run into this article that speaks about how C is better than C++. Adam Smith writes: It has been claimed that C++ is a better C them [sic] C. this is being taken to mean that when switching to C++ you can [...]...(read more)

Boost.Spirit v2.x Versus C’s ‘atoi’

C++ Soup! — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 11:26:11 GMT

Alex Ott wrote a fascinating blog post about Boost.Spirit v2.x’s integer parser performance compared to standard C’s ‘atoi’, in one example of how C++ is faster than C in some cases. He writes: I did very primitive test of performance for new version of boost.spirit. I read somewhere, that boost.spirit v.2 over-performs atoi on parsing of integers, [...]...(read more)

Free/Delete Not Returning Memory To OS?

C++ Soup! — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 19:14:35 GMT

As I do keep tabs on what’s going on with C++ around the web, I chanced upon this short and succinct article about ‘free’ and ‘delete’ not returning memory to the OS from Thought Garage which starts with: When you call free() or delete(), it will NOT really release any memory back to OS. Instead, that memory [...]...(read more)

Techniques and Realizations

C++ Soup! — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 12:06:14 GMT

After a considerably long break during the holiday season of 2009, I got back into the development mood in the beginning of 2010. After implementing HTTPS support in the development version of cpp-netlib towards the end of the year, I then moved on to one of the seemingly harder parts of implementing HTTP 1.1 support [...]...(read more)

RAII is not Clear?

C++ Soup! — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 16:44:26 GMT

One of the more basic and fundamental idioms of C++ programming is that of RAII. It’s so simple and fundamental that C++ seems to be the only programming language that supports this idiom. From Wikipedia, RAII is: Resource Acquisition Is Initialization, often referred to by the acronym RAII (or, erroneously, RIIA), is a popular design pattern [...]...(read more)

Python in C++

C++ Soup! — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 14:21:12 GMT

Sometimes you want to be able to write applications in C++ and expose a way of easily extending it by offering a scripting interface embedded to your application. Why re-invent the wheel when you can embed existing programming languages like Python into your C++ application? This article covers how you can embed Python into C++ in two different ways....(read more)

Web Developer’s Resolutions for 2010.

avcajipe — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 01:29:00 GMT

1. Break down in .css files in a logical manner so I can better locate a selector / class id instead of using the ubiquitous CTRL-F.

2. Get into the habit of using LINQ and Entity Framework more.

3. Create more logical business objects with properties and methods instead of directly using data tables and datasets directly from the database. Stricter separations of concern.

4. Continuous refactoring and unit testing.

5. Review JavaScript functions and see which items can be executed easier in JQuery. Makes learning css selectors easier too.

6. Start using ADO.net Data Services / Astoria.

7. Practice using Code Rush Xpress, learn more features.

8. Blog more. Share more cool links like this one.

9. Listen to more podcasts for continuing education.

10. Do more performance tuning, debugging and other tracing techniques.

Is Your C++ Standards Compliant?

C++ Soup! — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 09:14:00 GMT

I chanced upon this article that gives a take on the coding guidelines that popular projects post for code portability. In particular, jasper22 says: This document is quite a briefed [sic] guide to check whether your coding practices in C++ are standard or not and to provide possible fixes for the same. This document was written [...]...(read more)

Living in a Parallel World

C++ Soup! — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 14:22:00 GMT

While catching up on my C++ reading, I chanced upon this article from Intel Software Network by Dr. *** Brown of St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota which is basically pointing out the writing on the wall which I’ve already pointed out to colleagues while I was still in college. From the article: This calls for [...]...(read more)

Group Chat 2007 SDK Development Environment Setup Demystified

avcajipe — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 06:16:00 GMT

Microsoft’s Office Communications Server 2007 API exposes properties and methods in building custom chartrooms on top of Group Chat R2. However from the download site, they state that in order to install the API you should have the following Operating Systems: Windows Server 2003; Windows Server 2008. They also mentioned to:

Refer to the documentation contained within UCGCSdk.msi for additional information regarding system prerequisites.

Which is I think is quite funny because of the supposed need to install the .msi package without mentioning these additional system requirements before-hand.

Furthermore, this MSI package cannot install in a development machine not running a server operating system. Oh the hilarity.

Saving you from further headaches and as a public service, here are the requirements and steps we took in setting up the development environment for the Group Chat 2007 API. These are the requisites that the download website does not tell you:

1.     Operating System – At least Windows Server 2003 64-bit. Yes, that’s sixty-four-bit. We attempted installing the .msi package on a 32-bit server OS but that didn’t work out. We had to request for a virtual server for our development team in order to progress.
2.     Install Visual Studio 2008 in the server development machine.
3.     Install the Group Chat API.

Accessing our server development machine was funny because we had to remote desktop the server every time we need to start on chat room development. Yes, the hassle.
As of now my development team is starting to learn how to use and build on top of OCS2007 R2 platform for our BOT systems. I’ll write more on this as we go along.

For those interested, I’ve included the Group Chat .dlls and the compiled html help file so that you can take a quick look at the contents without the need experiencing the hassle of setting up the above mentioned environments.

C++ Instead of PHP for the Web?

C++ Soup! — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 05:37:00 GMT

I ran into this interesting article from Wt which reads: As they only say that “the bulk” is running PHP (edit: for those of you to lazy to read about the Facebook architecture [1], that is solely Apache/PHP, no database, no memcache, and to quote Jeff Rotschild of Facebook: “the need for those is a function of the [...]...(read more)

Updating the Look and Feel, More Content Coming

C++ Soup! — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 19:49:00 GMT

I’m now back from an extended holiday break and am getting back on the more active blogging course. My previous engagement with a full-time client has ended and I now have more time to concentrate on three things that I absolutely love and am passionate about. My Family — with my daughter growing older by the [...]...(read more)

IronRuby and the DLR slides posted in slideshare

cruizer — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 14:37:00 GMT

Posted the slides for "IronRuby and the Dynamic Language Runtime" in slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/cruizer/ironruby-and-the-dlr I delivered this talk on Saturday, 19 December 2009 at the Community Technology Update 2009 II event. It's basically the same as the last one (also at the Community Technology Update here in Singapore) except that now IronRuby is in 1.0 RC1 (back then, version 0.5.0 was just released) and the demo used .NET/C# 4.0's dynamic keyword. Good thing that...(read more)

User Interface - It's not Trivial

lamia — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 02:08:00 GMT

In my previous company our Systems Analyst always gave emphasis on User Interface and always reminded us that it's not a trivial thing. I thought that it was a mature way of thinking to develop all the functionalities first. Yeah, if you're just a coder then that might be a more important thing. But being a software engineer, designing user interfaces is a required skills or else, who would want to use your application? This is why I've spend time re-learning CSS, Javascript and JQuery. JQuery with some of its components already skinned really adds to the ease of development of user interfaces (plus some sleake design).

I have to thank many of my friends online who helped me develop my web design skills. Just a few months ago I could hardly match colors (still working on it) but with some patience and hardwork it seems to be a rewarding task. I tried to research online for some guidelines and this article seems fine.

My Christmas 2009 Wishlist

lamia — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 04:57:00 GMT

Christmas is the Spirit of Giving and not Receiving. By posting a wish list online, I hope you're not getting the wrong idea that I only want to receive. These things, of course are my heart's desire to help me "create" and have something to share (like knowledge). I hope I could give you a moment of fun while browsing through this list.

Flex 3 With Java - http://www.amazon.com/Flex-3-Java-Satish-Kore/dp/1847195342/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1260766324&sr=1-1

One of the frustrations I get here in Manila is that we are so dated on technology books. I can order online but would cost me too much on shipping. Now, I've done some basic Flex tutorials here in the past using PHP but I'm really hoping to use Flex with Java since that's the language I'm most comfortable with.

Dell Mini

This is a Dell Mini 12 in the picutre. I dunno what' the latest one is, it's not very important. I've done a little research and Dell still seems to promote their Mini 10. I think I've grown a loyalty to Dell since I bought my Inspiron 1525 a few months ago and I use Dell Latitude E6400 at work. Why do I still want a Dell Mini you say? I bought my Dell with development in mind and I truly loved its 15.4 inch screen, I thought it would already be portable enough to work on any place in our house. It proved a little difficult still. It's difficult when I have to sit beside my child and wife on bed before sleep because my child, though small covers a huge portion of the bed. I love to do my stuff with the two of them near me and I just hate to disturb their sleep each time I try to move even a little.

LG Chocolate Full Touch Screen - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9p_m8OYaQI

Whenever I read books I find it hard to store my notes on my current mobile phone. I have very limited space and it's very hard to organize. I don't know if such feature is supported by this phone but that's one of the things I'm looking for in touch mobile phones. I'm really looking forward to entering the touch screen craze next year.

Windows 7 Ultimate

I really want to replace Windows Vista that is currently installed on my laptop. One of the candidates is Windows 7 because I've heard of its stability and I've actually experienced it myself. I want to get the most out of my machine and Vista just ain't doing the job. Some of my old programs also don't work in Vista. :(

Playstation 3

During development of my game (a personal project, 2D Scrolling Manic Shooter), I found out that the most effective way to keep yourself motivated is to actually play some games and get ideas from those games. How can you develop games if you do not play games yourself? I have to admit I've been a little left behind with video games since Playstation 2. A few months ago, I had a PSP but then I had to sell it when I spilled some cooking oil in it. :(

Thanks for hearing me out! Merry Christmas and Happ New Year!

The C++ Network Library Now on Github

C++ Soup! — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 03:06:00 GMT

After a long couple of days working on some requirements of one of my consulting projects and optimizing my workflow, I’ve moved forward with moving the development of The C++ Network Library to Github. In the span of a few days, I’ve managed to move the cpp-netlib project to Github and release a new version [...]...(read more)

Moving to Github

C++ Soup! — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 00:05:00 GMT

So after years of loyalty to Sourceforge on some of my open source projects, I’ve elected to move two of my current C++ projects to Github. Starting today the memcachepp client will be developed almost actively on Github, and soon the cpp-netlib project will be moving to Git too and will also have a repository [...]...(read more)

How do I DisCOUNT that Row?

lamia — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 04:20:00 GMT

SQL has always been my weakest point as a developer. So in times like this, I usually resort to application-level solutions. This is the magic of doing pet-projects, you get to work on your weak points.

PROBLEM: The COUNT(*) function was return 1 on zero-row entries... Or was it really zero?

I was trying to do a simple COUNT on two LEFT joined tables...

------------------
items_tbl
------------------
item_id
item_name
------------------

------------------
item_entries_tbl
------------------
item_entry_id
item_id
------------------

Now, if I had the following data

------------------
items_tbl
------------------
item_id | item_name

1       | Shampoo
2       | Soap
3       | Baby Powder

and have two of these items listed on the item_entries_tbl

------------------
items_entries_tbl
------------------
item_entry_id | item_id

1             | 1
2             | 1
3             | 1
4             | 2
5             | 2

If I do the query:

SELECT A.item_id, COUNT(*) AS in_stock FROM items_tbl A LEFT JOIN item_entries_tbl B

Would give me...

------------------
SQL_RESULT
------------------
item_id | in_stock
1       | 3
2       | 2
3       | 1

Wait... There's something wrong here... I didn't have an entry for item_id 3 and yet it counted "1" in_stock. I guess the reason is that COUNT, counts for the number of rows.
When I left joined with items_tbl, it actually created a virtual row (as I like to call it) that has item_id = 3 in it. So how did I discount it?

I put in a counter-check item_id. I modified the query as follows...

SELECT A.item_id, B.item_id AS counter_check_item_id, COUNT(*) AS in_stock FROM items_tbl A LEFT JOIN item_entries_tbl B

It now gives me the result:

------------------
SQL_RESULT
------------------
item_id | counter_check_item_id | in_stock
1       | 1                     | 3
2       | 2                     | 2
3       | NULL                  | 1

At the application level, I just have to check if counter_check_item_id is NULL, the value 1 in in_stock would only be bogus and counter_check_item_id would verify if that row really exists.

In java:

//rs = java.sql.ResultSet

if ( rs.getString("counter_check_item_id") == null ){
    itemEntries.setInStock(0);
}
else{
   itemEntries.setInStock( rs.getInt(in_stock) );
}

Have a better solution? Post a comment! For those who does not. Hope that helps.

Ideas that keep me going

avcajipe — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:20:00 GMT

Flash, WPF, SilverLight?

Variation...

On Feature Management

avcajipe — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 03:25:00 GMT

I’ve got an existing application. It’s running smoothly and I want to keep it as streamlined as possible. I’ve spent countless hours in testing and debugging. It’s not perfect but I try to make it as close. I do not want it bloated, I find convoluted UIs quite cumbersome, but business users are our main customers, they will continuously want features. They’ll ask for the moon if they could. Where do we draw the line? In my area of work being a developer and also acting as business analyst, I’ve learned to accept feature requests if they would fall under the following requisites:

1. If the request will not just be used "once off" or just for one time usage,
e.g. "create a feature that can generate me the end of year financial statement for 2009"

2. If the request is requested by more than one person in more than one different team. It doesn’t mean that if a stakeholder keeps asking for the same feature over a period of time that it’s a good idea.

3. Feature request is useful to everyone that uses the system, not just useful to a handful of people. Maximize ROI.

4. Does not slow down or complicate any existing feature.

Programming on a Netbook

C++ Soup! — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 14:07:00 GMT

So recently I’ve been doing more and more open source C++ development over at cpp-netlib cleaning up the implementation of a simple URI library for the release of version 0.4. I still haven’t gotten myself that MacBook Pro that I’ve always wanted to get but I did settle for an Acer Aspire One. That said [...]...(read more)