1. Search CTRL + F allows you to search for strings in the DOM but you can also search using CSS selectors and XPath expressions. 2. Color picker Ever wanted to figure out what colours exist on a web page? Or prefer some other colour format? Here comes the color picker: Shift click on the color … Continue reading Chrome dev tools deep dive : Elements
Category: Software Development
Quick estimation tips for engineers
Engineers need to estimate system performance and simulate real-life scenarios. For most engineering fields, there are rich banks of proven theories and mathematical relations to rely upon. Unfortunately, software engineering - the new kid on the block - has a few rigorous rules, most times we rely on heuristics and handed-down wisdom.
Tips for printing from web applications
How to get consistent print output across a range of browsers and their never-ending stream of subtle nuances.
What is Semantic Versioning (SemVer)?
Software Versioning Software versioning has always been a problem for software developers, release managers and consumers since time immemorial. For developers, the challenge lies in releasing new breaking changes while simultaneously minimizing consumer upgrade pains. On the flip side; consumers, when they finally decide to upgrade to new-shiny-release-10000, want to be sure they are not buying a one-way-ticket … Continue reading What is Semantic Versioning (SemVer)?
Code is Poetry : 5 steps to bulletproof code
Programmers have to love their craft and put their best into making it stand out.
How to watch variables in JavaScript
We all have to track variables;while debugging; generally the easier it is to monitor changes, the faster bugs can be detected and fixed. Web developer tools expose various methods for tracking changes in variable values. There are a couple of drawbacks e.g. non-uniform support across platforms) but again, half-bread is better than none :).
7 Cool tricks with Chrome DevTools
1. $_ $_ re-evaluates the last expression and is similar to the '_' command in python's REPL. However _ prints the last 'non-None' value while $_ prints the value of the last evaluated expression even if it is undefined. 2. $() and $$() selectors $() selects the first matching DOM element while $$() selects all matching DOM elements. Quite useful if jQuery is missing. … Continue reading 7 Cool tricks with Chrome DevTools
I Git! Stashing Explained
An explanation of scenarios where git stash comes in handy and how to apply stashing
The Art of Debugging
Programmers usually spend a lot of time debugging and it can be a painful experience; some feel like tearing out their hair in exasperation, smashing their poor computers or even believing that their computers really 'hate' them! :) Actually computers do not hate people and the operating system is not conjuring bugs - the most likely reason is buggy code. Here are a couple of tips on debugging; hopefully these will help to reduce time spent, frustration and annoyance levels.
The Myth of Perfect Software
Programs do not acquire bugs as people acquire germs, by hanging around other buggy programs. Programmers must insert them... Harlan Mills Software breaks all the time: booting issues, corrupt software and files, crashes etc; nearly everyone has had a close shave or two with fragile software. Can programmers write 'perfect' fault-free software? I presume a trip to … Continue reading The Myth of Perfect Software
EmberJS vs Backbone
Although I have never tried out the Backbone framework, I had to review it some time ago when I had to select the JS framework to use. I wrote this last year so if anything has changed please let me know. EmberJS Strengths Allows developers to control the entire page at runtime and not just … Continue reading EmberJS vs Backbone
EmberJS: The Rant
So I started on EmberJS some time last year; after spending an inordinate amount of time trying to design a prototype with people located all across the world. Finally, after several dreary demanding iterations and lots of work, we finally agreed on an implementation. One of the dev members suggested using EmberJS or backbone. Based on his review, backbone … Continue reading EmberJS: The Rant
Asynchronous Module Definition (AMD)
AMD (No, not the chip maker) stands for Asynchronous Module Definition - a cool new way of loading scripts. AMD attempts to solve some of the limitations associated with the orthodox approach of loading scripts.
Automate Builds using GruntJS
I already wrote about the awesomeness of GruntJS and here is how to set up your own Grunt system. 1. Installation GruntJS runs on nodejs so you need that installed first. Once nodejs and npm are installed, use the following command to install Grunt (the -g flag installs it globally). npm install -g grunt-cliThis installs the grunt … Continue reading Automate Builds using GruntJS
Grunting with GruntJS
I have been working on a team using a diverse tech stack: PHP, MongoDB, EmberJS and requireJS. Since we intend to release the alpha version in a few weeks insha Allaah, I had to bring everything up to production-ready levels. The usual needs: Javascript linting and obfuscation, resource (JS, CSS + images) minification, test automation (unit + … Continue reading Grunting with GruntJS
For Devs only
I try to do less to achieve more - it is good; it makes me do my job faster and more easily; you should do so too. Automate, use shortcuts, innovate; well the initial investment might take a lot of time but it's something you will be glad you did. You can learn a lot … Continue reading For Devs only
Design Patterns: PubSub Explained
I actually wanted to write about PubSub alone: it’s a fascinating design pattern to me however, the thought occurred to me, why not write a design patterns’ series? It’ll be good knowledge for me and give good information. So here goes the first: PubSub.
Clean Code, Dirty Code
Clean code is what we developers should aspire to write, it is clean, minimal, simple, easy to understand, free of extraneous details,
Reflection : Arcane parts of Software Development
I first came across reflection when I needed to develop a PHP framework for my former firm. I started by reading the fuel source code (fuel is a PHP framework) and came across the reflection patterns in the boot strap. I seem to have a lot of first times with PHP. Well I have come … Continue reading Reflection : Arcane parts of Software Development
The Singleton Pattern
I stumbled upon the singleton pattern while reading a PHP book and fell in love with its simplicity. I rushed to use it at every single opportunity I got (when you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail, right?) until I got tired of it; now I can't really remember when I used it … Continue reading The Singleton Pattern
Beautiful Code 1 : 5 Symptoms of Software Rot
I used to wonder why people would refer to software development as an art; to me there was absolutely no correlation between programming and art. However, after hacking at software for years and writing all sorts of software: crappy ( I bet I'll would hide my face in shame if I see some of my old code), good and ugly, I believe it is an art.
Ten Useful Terminal Commands for Developers
The terminal is a very powerful tool and once you grasp its basics; you'll love it and use it in ways never imagined by the original developers. Here are some really useful commands. 1. Ls I use this tool everyday and it is a workhorse. It is great for listing directory contents and checking file … Continue reading Ten Useful Terminal Commands for Developers
What you should know about HTTP
Everyone seems to know that the web runs on HTTP, but what is HTTP all about? HTTP stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol; an application-layer protocol that the web runs on. Implemented as a client-server model; HTTP defines how clients should make requests to servers and how servers should respond. It is a stateless protocol because servers … Continue reading What you should know about HTTP
And you thought you knew about Open Source
Popular opinion about open-source software - having access to the source code – does not adequately express the meaning of free software; it is even weaker than official definition of open-source as it includes lots of propriety and/or commercial programs.
Importing a remote Git project using Eclipse
Importing a remote Git project using Eclipse
