Pre-Merge Formatting October 7, 2009
Posted by ccollins in Eclipse, How To, Java, Languages, Software Engineering.Tags: branching, formatting, handy hints, merging, source control
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Merge Right
A problem with formatting code on a branch, is when you come to merge it back to the trunk, you end up having to work thorough lots of file changes which are really only formatting changes. The larger your project size, the more work this involves. I was faced with a similar task recently.
While editing file by file, I usually do the Ctrl-A Ctrl-Shift-F combo to ensure the file is formatted according to our corporate standards before saving any edits. Since much of the code I touched on the branch was formatted under a different standard, and I touched a lot of files while introducing log4j logging, the end result was heading for a hairy merge. What I really needed was a way to bulk format both the branch and the trunk versions of the code-base.
Luckily, I realised that that same formatter embedded in Eclipse can be used to bulk format Java source. Here’s how …
Howto: Pause a Shell Script July 20, 2009
Posted by ccollins in How To, Languages, Linux, Open Source, Software Engineering.Tags: bash, c shell, csh, korn shell, ksh, scripting, shell, unix
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Computer Data Output
File this one under “Another Nifty script-let”. The problem this time is getting a shell script to pause for user input. What I needed was a way to make a script stop, saying “Hit a key to continue..”, wait for the user to hit a key, then continue the script execution. Here’s how:
Why Maven doesn’t work for me. March 29, 2008
Posted by ccollins in Java, Languages, Open Source, Opinion, Software Engineering.Tags: Ant, Build Tools, Buildr, GAnt, Maven, Rake
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I’ve been meaning to do a follow up post on Maven for quite a while. I received several emails regarding my previous post from people asking how we’re using it. I must admit, it looked promising initially, but as we got into the specifics, it looked less workable for building commercial software. Here I hope to outline some of the reasons I suggest that Maven may not be for you.
A Brief History of XML March 3, 2008
Posted by ccollins in Database, Essays, History, Languages, SOA, Software Engineering, Web Services.Tags: XML
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Evolution of XML
Extensible Markup Languages (XML) history begins with the development of Standardised Generalised Markup Language (SGML) by Charles Goldfarb, along with Ed Mosher and Ray Lorie in the 1970s while working at IBM (Anderson, 2004). SGML despite the name is not a mark-up language in it’s own right, but is a language used to specify mark-up languages. The purpose of SGML was to create vocabularies which could be used to mark up documents with structural tags. It was imagined at the time, that certain machine readable documents should remain machine readable for perhaps decades.
Transaction Management for JPox with Spring. January 25, 2008
Posted by ccollins in Database, How To, Java, Languages, Open Source, Software Engineering.Tags: Java Data Objects, JPOX, Object Relational Mapping, Spring Framework
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I was on the edge of writing some unkind things about JPox and Spring this week, as I dealt with the frustration of getting Spring to manage transactions for the JPox persistence code I was writing.
The issue I was dealing with, was the persistence of a org.springframework.orm.jdo.JdoUsageException. I decided to simplify, and I downloaded the JPox JDO Tutorial, and decided to reimplement it using Spring.
Read on for the cause, and solution to my problem. (more…)
Java IDEs for x86_64 July 8, 2007
Posted by ccollins in Eclipse, Java, Languages, Linux, Netbeans, Open Source.add a comment
As I’ve mentioned before, I run Ubuntu on an AMD64 processor. I was recently surprised to see that running the new release of Eclipse (Europa) was causing me issues. Basically, Java (or the native parts of these projects) was throwing a wobbly when trying to run 32-bit code on a 64-bit JVM. I thought the goal of Java was write once, run anywhere!
It took me a while, but I managed to find a 64-bit install of Europa. You have to take the “Eclipse Classic” SDK version for Linux x86_64. This installed and ran using the default instructions provided (unzip and run).
Netbeans 6.0M9 gave me similar issues a while back. I never got around to fixing it, but I noticed yesterday that 6.0M10 has been released. This installed and ran straight away. I guess they’ve included x86_64 support in the installer now.
I got no excuses for not developing something useful now :-)
SQL support for Data Warehousing June 24, 2007
Posted by ccollins in Database, Essays, Languages.Tags: datawarehouse, SQL
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Data Warehousing
Information systems must support the day to day business, as well as the long term, strategic goals of an organisation. The problems for most businesses is that supporting day to day business operations and supporting long term strategic planning require different sets of data and tools.
(more…)
SQL Object Features June 17, 2007
Posted by ccollins in Database, Essays, Languages.add a comment
Object Features
SQL-1999 introduced object support into the SQL standard. The SQL-1999 standard had to be backward compatible with the existing SQL-1992 standard, so object support was implemented as an extension to the existing standard. The types defined by SQL-1992 were retained, and the standard modified to support user defined types (UDT) with object-like features.
Internet Database Technologies May 26, 2007
Posted by ccollins in Database, Essays, History, Languages.Tags: asp, cgi, ColdFusion, fat client, jsp, middleware, networks, php, thin client
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Since the mid 1980s databases have had to learn how to work in a networked environment. This evolution continues with respect to the Internet. We discuss the technologies used by Internet capable databases in this paper. (more…)
Hackety Hack May 18, 2007
Posted by ccollins in Languages, Open Source, Software Engineering.add a comment
All I can say is it’s about time! I was made aware of Hackety Hack today, which is an adaptation of Ruby to make the introduction of programming to children easier.
It’s come up a few times, over lunch or coffee, we reminisce about programming basic on our computers as kids. I started on a Sinclair ZX84, before graduating to the ATARI 800XL. Transitioning wasn’t all that hard, BASIC was similar on both systems.
Thinking back on it, I had mastered quite alot. I had input and output to the screen, branching, looping and arrays mastered. I hadn’t quite got file I/O for procedures.
When we got our first PC, I remember being rather upset, that basic was no longer available to me. By the time I had found qBasic, I had lost interest, i.e. was going through the moody teenage years.
By the time I got to college I realised what I had learned stood me in good stead. Term one of my Computer Engineering degree had us learning Pascal. Suddenly branching, looping and arrays were back, but this time with proper functions and procedures.
Since then I’ve gone on to be a fully fledged Software Engineer. I can’t help but think that, that early exposure to BASIC were the first steps on the journey that brought me here.
I kudos to why, and his effort to make programming easy and fun for kids. We need more people in IT, and this is as good a place to start as any.
