Programming Thread

Kibner what's your work life like being the only IT guy, or are you the only programmer?

This is golden:

On production you need to perform a series of pre-tasks to get your project ready that make the ritual to summon Satan look like a boiled eggs recipe.

-I meant Pug. I meant Jade. I mean, Jade is now Pug.
Sigh. No. Can’t remember. Which one would you use?
-Probably just ES6 native template strings.
Let me guess. And that requires ES6.
-Correct.
Which, depending on what browser I’m using needs Babel.
-Correct.
Which, if I want to include without adding the entire core library, I need to load it as a module from npm.
-Correct.
Which, requires Browserify, or Wepback, or most likely that other thing called SystemJS.
-Correct.
Which, unless it’s Webpack, ideally should be managed by a task runner.

You know what. I think we are done here. Actually, I think I’m done. I’m done with the web, I’m done with JavaScript altogether.
-That’s fine, in a few years we all are going to be coding in Elm or WebAssembly.
I’m just going to move back to the backend. I just can’t handle these many changes and versions and editions and compilers and transpilers. The JavaScript community is insane if it thinks anyone can keep up with this.
-I hear you. You should try the Python community then.
Why?
-Ever heard of Python 3?

https://hackernoon.com/how-it-feels-to-learn-javascript-in-2016-d3a717dd577f#.id3lwtdxy

Can't say i disagree.

Web stuff is super messy.

And the over use of external libraries seems extensive too. Is what it is though.

hmm i dunno it reads like hacker news bait

here's something actually useful about the js ecosystem http://stateofjs.com/

By Smokey Go To PostKibner what's your work life like being the only IT guy, or are you the only programmer?

I have a fellow co-worker and my boss. Co-worker works on his own projects, mostly. Boss gets us clients, helps stop scope creep from clients, and makes sure I have the tools I need. It is usually low stress because I refuse to let myself get stressed out like I did in my hospital job from overwork or worrying about things out of my control.

A typical work day for me is waking up, doing morning routine, and opening my email after letting my dog out. I work for roughly the next 5-7 hours while taking frequent 5-10 minute breaks. I also work while eating lunch. Check my email again at around lunch time and then again a couple hours later.

I find if I work for longer than six hours consistently, I start to make dumb(er) mistakes that makes me waste time the next day to fix. I still get stressed out sometimes when I have a big presentation for a client coming up, but I haven't found a way to stop my brain from doing that. I can be over-prepared or under-prepared and I get just as anxious either way.

By reilo Go To PostThis is golden:
https://hackernoon.com/how-it-feels-to-learn-javascript-in-2016-d3a717dd577f#.id3lwtdxy

It made me laugh. :)

And he thinks he can get away from javascript by going to the backend. hee hee hee hee heh

I refuse to comment on the accuracy of the C# panels.

Really glad hat we are getting a JavaScript API for VR in browsers. Even React announced VR support.

Clearly a much needed implementation over sticky CSS elements or improved fixed element positioning. Who needs a better CSS spec?

I've pretty much given up on ever expecting an improved CSS spec. Styling web pages for universal device use is the devil.

Yarn: A new package manager for JavaScript

We've used the npm client successfully at Facebook for years, but as the size of our codebase and the number of engineers grew, we ran into problems with consistency, security, and performance. After trying to solve for each issue as it came up, we set out to build a new solution to help us manage our dependencies more reliably. The product of that work is called Yarn — a fast, reliable, and secure alternative npm client.

We're pleased to announce the open source release of Yarn, a collaboration with Exponent, Google, and Tilde. With Yarn, engineers still have access to the npm registry, but can install packages more quickly and manage dependencies consistently across machines or in secure offline environments. Yarn enables engineers to move faster and with confidence when using shared code so they can focus on what matters — building new products and features.

The next solution we implemented was to check all of node_modules into the repository. While this worked, it made some simple operations quite difficult. For example, updating a minor version of babel generated an 800,000-line commit that was difficult to land and triggered lint rules for invalid utf8 byte sequences, windows line endings, non png-crushed images, and more. Merging changes to node_modules would often take engineers an entire day. Our source control team also pointed out that our checked-in node_modules folder was responsible for a tremendous amount of metadata. The React Native package.json currently lists just 68 dependencies, but after running npm install the node_modules directory contains 121,358 files.

We also had to work around issues with npm's shrinkwrap feature, which we used to lock down dependency versions. Shrinkwrap files aren't generated by default and will fall out of sync if engineers forget to generate them, so we wrote a tool to verify that the contents of the shrinkwrap file matches what's in node_modules. These files are huge JSON blobs with unsorted keys, though, so changes to them would generate massive, difficult-to-review commits. To mitigate this, we needed to add an additional script to sort all the entries.

Yarn is a new package manager that replaces the existing workflow for the npm client or other package managers while remaining compatible with the npm registry. It has the same feature set as existing workflows while operating faster, more securely, and more reliably.

• Compatibility with both the npm and bower workflows and supports mixing registries.
• Ability to restrict licenses of installed modules and a means for outputting license information.
• Exposes a stable public JS API with logging abstracted for consumption via build tools.
• Readable, minimal, pretty CLI output.

https://code.facebook.com/posts/1840075619545360

At least this one appears to solve a problem.

It's also written by a Rust guy that maintains Cargo.

Was reading up on stuxnet after the US fired warning shots at Russia. I read about it at a high level before but

yo

that shit was fire. i'm fascinated by the sheer fukkery in its code. 4 zero day attacks? written in multiple languages. top tier stuff.

But Thiel’s actions are in direct conflict with our values at Project Include. Because of his continued connection to YC, we are compelled to break off our relationship with YC. We hope this situation changes, and that we are both willing to move forward together in the future. Today it is clear to us that our values are not aligned.

https://medium.com/projectinclude/peter-thiel-yc-and-hard-decisions-2b91bab83764#.vecnr6ii6

Will be spending the rest of this week and probably a good portion of next week adding a refund feature to a site for one of my clients. This system has claims and benefits management and tracking there of in addition to cutting checks for the benefits used in covering portions of the original claim. It is already in place and they have been using it for several months now.

It wasn't until a while ago that one of the stakeholders on the project brought up the idea of refunds. And not just voiding a check refunds, but partial refunds. Of course, nothing is setup to handle that really well so I worked with one of their tech people who knows the business side, as well, in order to come up with a solution that should hopefully work with no negative impact to anything else that already exists.

*sigh* I have to do a better job at getting client stakeholders to speak up during planning meetings where features are discussed.

On a more positive note, I can recommend anyone learning javascript this article on the Module pattern: https://toddmotto.com/mastering-the-module-pattern/

It is a very useful pattern to be familiar with.

For a "real world" example, I just added it to my User Tag Associater app on github. The app code can be found here: https://github.com/kibner/User-Tag-Associater/tree/master/app

I have started to split out the focus of my work on the app into separate javascript files in order to make it easier for me to remember what my own code does. For now, I have three javascript files linked in my index.html file:

• user-tag-associater.js: the base module file. It will contain common functionality.
• by-game.js: an extension module for user-tag-associater. It will only care about manipulating the DOM within the "By Game" tab of the page
• main.js: the main javascript file that kicks everything off. It was included as part of the Google Web Starter Kit framework that I am using and implements a service worker that can determine if the version of the page the user is viewing is the most current version.*

user-tag-associater.js creates a variable called "userTagAssociater" that contains all its functions. by-game.js takes that variable and adds a new function to it before returning it back. main.js takes the completed userTagAssociater variable and calls the initialize function that was created inside the by-game.js file.

I plan on adding a by-user.js file and extension module eventually in order to handle the code I will write for the "By User" tab.

* You can see this happening of you use Google Inbox and there is a little box on the bottom of the page that says "A new version of Inbox is available. Please Refresh." or something similar. I'm not sure if there is something else I have to do in order to get this to work with this app or not. Haven't really investigated it.

How is android programming compared to the stuff listed in the OP. Don't really have much experience besides a C# class a couple years ago, should i look into android or is my time better spent elsewhere? Thanks btw this thread has been a good read.

By money_woes Go To PostHow is android programming compared to the stuff listed in the OP. Don't really have much experience besides a C# class a couple years ago, should i look into android or is my time better spent elsewhere? Thanks btw this thread has been a good read.

Learning on Android might be a bit steep for a newcomer because there is a lot more you have to know to get a functional app going.

However, since most Android programming uses Java, I suggest to start learning that language and then moving on to Android once you are comfortable. The links in the OP and scattered throughout the thread should help. If you want a physical resource, Headfirst makes great introduction books. They also have eBook versions.

Android: http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920029045.do
Java (really old and outdated now but may still be fine for basics): http://www.headfirstlabs.com/books/hfjava/

Someone more educated on the subject will probably have a better suggestion for learning Java.

But, yeah, if your goal is to make stuff for Android, first get acquainted with Java, then move on to creating apps for that platform, and learn about "design patterns" somewhere along the way.

Learning how to work with NoSQL as I write that app: https://firebase.google.com/docs/database/

But why?

By reilo Go To PostBut why?

Because firebase is a free host that I used before and is relatively easy to work with and that is what they use for database. *shrug*

They also have a storage feature that I could theoretically use to save user-uploaded images and such.

Not Firebase part, the NoSQL part.

Android is bit of a mess. Honestly. And their API's, reference docs, et al are all over the place cause they update to new versions so quickly.

Their introduction tutorials are really nice

But they ... cut off very early and leave a lot of the development after that up to your initiative. But it's a starting point. And a solid one as it will have you with an App that has you going from one screen to another.

That's a bummer about Android. I felt the same about Android development 3-4 years ago, and the fact that it hasn't improved upon that is truly disheartening.

By reilo Go To PostNot Firebase part, the NoSQL part.

Oh. Well, there isn't another choice with that host. That is just what they use. I don't know much about it, yet, so what are your concerns with using it? Is it the thing where it's really just storage and retrieval of JSON objects or something else?

No concerns, was just curious why.

By reilo Go To PostNo concerns, was just curious why.

Gotcha.

I do tend to try at least one new (to me) technology with every side project I mess with. I guess NoSQL is it this time around!

e: also, it appears that I got anonymous authentication and saving to the database working. Will update github in a few minutes after I do some clean up.

e2: yup, confirmed working, though nothing in the UI will show the results, yet. Not even a successful save response appears in the UI at this point, but I confirmed that my authentication and saving to database works. Should just be grunt work left now.

Github and actual site are both updated with the new code. I figure once I get everything tested and working ok, I will deploy a new firebase site with a more SL&ENT friendly name.

The number of .js files I'm making has gotten to the point where I will need to create new folders to divide them into for better organization.

By reilo Go To PostThat's a bummer about Android. I felt the same about Android development 3-4 years ago, and the fact that it hasn't improved upon that is truly disheartening.

I've said it a few times but it seems like their biggest obstacle is that so many people are using outdated versions of the OS, that they take one step forward with a new widget / layout. Then have to spend the next 6 months figuring out how to make that step backwards compatible.

And because of that all the documentation is all over the place. Some of the original classes / components haven't had their documentation updated.

And it seems like they've tried to address it by creating new paths to finding the correct documentation... but never finished it all off. So the documentation can be in one of 3 - 5 places.

And that's if it ever makes it in there at all. There are some things (like bottom sheets) that were never ever documented except in a blog post about the patch release. And so you have people trying to make sense of it on stack exchange by looking at the source code for android (it's still open source).

That said, when something works and you do it the right way, it's usually super fast and robust. It can just take a frustrating amount of time to get there.

anybody got experience with react native? thinking about trying it with my next project

I have plenty of experience with React but not Native. Anything in particular you want to know?

Oh nothing in particular, just wondering what people's experience with it were like

I've been getting into react so react native would probably be more convenient than learning java/swift

Made some good progress on the User Tag Associater program this weekend. I think I finally settled down on the way I want to present data creation. I went through like three or four different ways to present that functionality till I found one that was usable.

Users can now create games and platforms. I still need to add a way for users to see games and the platforms they are on, a way to create a user with their associated games and platform tags, wire up the database data to the "By Game" tab controls, and fix some oddities that I haven't gotten around to, yet.

NBA regular season is starting up this week so I'm not sure if I will be able to finish things up and push something out by the end of next weekend. If anyone wants a sneak peek, however: https://user-tag-associater.firebaseapp.com

Note: the "By Game" and "By User" tabs are non-functional and just there to show how I think things will eventually work and look like. The "Games" tab is fully functional and the "Platforms" tab is half-functional (you can add new Platforms, but there is no way to see the results).

I'll also need to put in a way to edit and delete entries, but I'm not going to worry about that for a first release, as I can do that manually in the meantime.

Sometimes, I really don't like working with MVC model binding. Had a problem this week where a collection in my form model was not getting bound to the form for postback and I was completely unable to figure out why, even after extensive debugging and google searching.

I ended up using javascript to serialize the form and my collection separately and then concatenate them together in order for my controller to get the proper object back. It was very annoying having to do this.

MVC, while enticing and probably a good approach for its era, is completely limiting, especially if you have to deal with a lot of your logic living in the front-end.

By giririsss Go To PostI don't think natively Access has MySQL built in. It would be MSSQL. MySQL is owned by Oracle, their major competitor in that segment.

But the real thing here is that Access doesn't really use either by default. It has it's own format that is largely designed for small data sets and optimised for interaction with the GUI builders native to Access.

That said, you can typically see the queries and stuff that the UI is pulling / sending. But you have to have full access to the whole thing. There should be a query tab even.

How would I do that?

By Kibner Go To PostOh. Well, there isn't another choice with that host. That is just what they use. I don't know much about it, yet, so what are your concerns with using it? Is it the thing where it's really just storage and retrieval of JSON objects or something else?

Historically, Firebase used MongoDB, which had a tendency to lose data and return stale data on reads (even when properly configured). But it's not clear that it still does.

By Face it Tiger.. Go To PostHow would I do that?

https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Import-or-link-to-data-in-another-Access-database-095ab408-89c7-45b3-aac2-58036e45fcf6#bm3

https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Import-or-link-to-SQL-Server-data-a5a3b4eb-57b9-45a0-b732-77bc6089b84e#bm2

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc722917.aspx

By Sharp Go To PostHistorically, Firebase used MongoDB, which had a tendency to lose data and return stale data on reads (even when properly configured). But it's not clear that it still does.

Hrrmmm... interesting. Well, I'm not using it for anything important enough for that to matter and I haven't noticed an issue with stale data, so far.

Jetbrains is making a cross platform .Net IDE. I really like a lot of their products and hope this one is just as good as their others.

Smokey, there's a Humble Bundle happening for a bunch of Unix books: ‪ https://www.humblebundle.com/books/unix-book-bundle‬

Oh wow.

Appreciate it I'll have a look

ive been out here trying to learn different linux distros through vm's

it's been a fun time--need to get better at knowing how much memory and what not to allocate to them, and I'm also wondering just how deep I should go in terms of terminal/console knowledge

Your terminal is everything for Unix. You should get so comfortable within the terminal that you'd be able to manage any Unix distro without having the need for a GUI.

By reilo Go To PostYour terminal is everything for Unix. You should get so comfortable within the terminal that you'd be able to manage any Unix distro without having the need for a GUI.

I have very limited experience with Unix-based stuff, but, yeah, Reilo is dead-on about this. If you are looking to get a job working with Unix systems, odds are that nearly any system you would work with would have the vast majority of your interaction with it done through the console.

It definitely helps that the Unix console is a lot more functional than the base Windows one.

I can't remember the last time I logged into a Unix distro with a GUI besides OSX. At least over a decade ago.

By reilo Go To PostYour terminal is everything for Unix. You should get so comfortable within the terminal that you'd be able to manage any Unix distro without having the need for a GUI.

well shit, any suggestions on how to start becoming fluent in this? I suppose practice just doing everything with the terminal including opening software and what not?

By Dark PhaZe Go To Postive been out here trying to learn different linux distros through vm's

it's been a fun time–need to get better at knowing how much memory and what not to allocate to them, and I'm also wondering just how deep I should go in terms of terminal/console knowledge

As far as allocating memory for a VM, it entirely depends on what the purpose of that installation is. If you are just trying to understand how to use console, I'm sure you could go with an installation with no GUI installed and allocate like 512MB of RAM or less and still be able to do everything you need to for learning purposes. Hell, you may be able to get away with 128MB of RAM.