One of the challenges when you’re starting out with DevOps is getting the lay of the land. There are a lot of tools out there. And when one of the goals of DevOps is continually improving your processes, it’s important for you to understand how those tools might fit in your infrastructure. At the same time, you want to be …
When I’m writing new software, one of the most important thoughts in my mind is how I’ll test to make sure it works. There are lots of ways to test software, and when you’re at your best, you should be using all of them. Sure, you should make sure that your QA team is able to verify that your code …
There are dozens of great languages to learn. Today we’ll be breaking down the differences between two of the best: PHP vs Python. Which one is best for your application? Which is going to give you the best return on your development time? We’ll pit these two head-to-head and find out which is the best choice for you. Ease of …
The introduction of Google Maps in 2005 changed the way we think about the internet. It’s hard to remember now, but there was a time where the internet was disconnected from the physical world. You might find a business’s website, and if you were lucky, they’d have an address included. A national chain of restaurants or grocery stores probably wouldn’t …
Authentication for web apps is a difficult problem. Anyone who’s ever tried to create their own authentication system will tell you that there are a lot of unexpected edge cases. What’s more, your authentication system is an externally-facing part of your application. This means if someone is trying to hack into your application, your login system’s security will be one of …
A Rails migration is a tool for changing an application’s database schema. Instead of managing SQL scripts, you define database changes in a domain-specific language (DSL). The code is database-independent, so you can easily move your app to a new platform. You can roll migrations back, and manage them alongside your application source code. Let’s take a look at what Rails migrations …
If you’re thinking about using containers to manage an application, there are a lot of options for technologies to use. It can be difficult to even know where to begin to make a decision. One common question is whether someone should use Docker vs Kubernetes for managing their application containers. This is a misleading question. In truth, Docker and Kubernetes …
Docker is a powerful tool for creating and deploying applications. It simplifies rolling out applications across multiple systems and is a useful tool for integrating new technologies. An application that runs using Docker will start up the same every time on every system. This means that if the application works on your local computer, it’ll work anywhere that supports Docker. …
Learning to build webapps is an exciting process, but it comes with its own set of challenges. As a newer developer, deciding what programming language will bring your big idea to life is a common challenge. There are lots of terrific choices for building webapps on the market. Today, we’ll focus on two of 2019’s most popular options: Node.js vs …