January 5, 2011
Ever since I first received my Droid, I’ve been very curious about how people produce some of those amazing applications on and off the Android market. I’m a programmer, but not a gifted hacker by any stretch of the imagination. I’ve mastered Visual Basic and Coldfusion, but when it comes to writing an application from scratch [...]
November 23, 2010
I believe a nicer and friendlier term would be ‘social coding’. Sharing sample code is one of the little limbs of the larger open source movement. Freed from the straitjackets of profits, free sharing of technical information is quite common. Sample code that is freely available is also a great learning aid. For the beginner [...]
October 7, 2010
There comes a time in any coder or non-coder’s life when keeping track of file changes in your own head just gets out of hand. When that happens the logical next step is to move your files, whether it be code, configuration files, text files or other; to a version control system. Git is a [...]
August 23, 2010
What does the acronym API stand for? API means Application Programming Interface and they say that APIs are the underlying aspect of Web 2.0. But what does it really mean – what is an api? Let’s try to demystify the term a little. The word to really pay attention to is “Interface”. If you have [...]
August 18, 2010
For most programmers, programming isn’t just a job or a hobby, it’s really a way of life. When a programmer is faced with a new gadget, the first thought is usually “how can I program it?” Programmers live to tweak, customize and hack the behavior of their gadgets, and this is especially true when it [...]
March 23, 2010
For those that aren’t in the know, the browser based “IDE” is an abbreviation of Integrated Development Environment. Very simply said, it’s an application that can be used to write code, but usually with added compiler/interpreter, debugging and automation features. Finding a decent freeware code writing application (view previous code-editor compilations for Windows or Mac), [...]
February 10, 2010
Many gamers have thought of ideas they would love to see made into reality, but creating a video game is not a small task. In the past it required special equipment and a decent amount of programming knowledge just to make basic games. As technology and software development has evolved, the barrier is much lower [...]
February 8, 2010
Anyone who creates something, be it art, writing or products is entitled to have full control over how their creation is used. The same goes for software and its developers. If you develop a cutting edge program tomorrow, wouldn’t you like to know that its users are legally bound to use it the way you [...]
February 2, 2010
At the very beginning, I owe everyone who reads this an explanation as to what a prototyping tool really is. A “˜Prototype’ is a mock up. You can think of it as an image or a model of the final thing. Prototyping tools are drawing and sketching tools which help in designing the outlines of [...]
January 1, 2010
I’m determined to learn computer programming in my lifetime. Yes, it’s all a foreign language to me, but I so admire the work that developers do. I think they should receive Emmy awards or something. Many of them certainly don’t get the recognition (or financial backing) they deserve. If you’re like me and are curious [...]
