Debugging performance issues in production can be a pain and, in some cases, impossible without the right tools. Java profiling has been around forever, but the java profilers most developers think about are only one type: standard JVM profilers. However, using one type of profiler is not enough. Suppose you’re analyzing your application’s performance. There are multiple profiling activities which …
Log4net for .NET Logging: The Only Tutorial and 14 Tips You Need to Know
If you’ve been writing code for any reasonable amount of time, then it’s virtually impossible that you haven’t handled logging in any way, since it’s one of the most essential parts of modern, “real life” app development. If you’re a .NET developer, then you’ve probably used some of the many famous logging frameworks available for use at this platform. Today’s …
Equality in Java: Operators, Methods, and What to Use When
Equality is an essential concept when programming, not only in Java but in pretty much all programming languages. After all, much of what we do when writing code has to do with comparing values and then making decisions based on the results of such comparisons. Unfortunately, dealing with equality can often be tricky, despite being such a vital part of …
What Is Spring Boot?
Spring Boot is an open-source micro framework maintained by a company called Pivotal. It provides Java developers with a platform to get started with an auto configurable production-grade Spring application. With it, developers can get started quickly without losing time on preparing and configuring their Spring application. This post will guide you through understanding what Spring Boot is and what …
A Look At 5 of the Most Popular Programming Languages of 2019
If you’re a software developer, then you probably—every now and then—feel overwhelmed by the super-fast pace at which our industry evolves, and that’s fine. I certainly feel that way sometimes, especially when trying to keep up with the latest trends. But it’s possible to be well-informed about what’s going on out there, and use that information to your advantage, by …
Learn C#: Tutorials for Beginners, Intermediate, and Advanced Programmers
Are you trying to teach yourself to code? Or are you already an experienced developer who wants to pick another language? In both cases, you know how frustrating it can be to find good tutorials online. Sure, it’s easy to find “tutorials”, but separating the chaff from the wheat is a whole different story. Of course, you have to pick …
11 Simple Java Performance Tuning Tips
It’s one thing to write code that works. But what about clean, readable, concise code? That’s another thing entirely. To create an app that solves one problem? Not that hard. What about one that not only solves the problem, but it’s also easy and pleasurable to use? Now we’re talking. You could apply the same reasoning for many software properties, …
Advanced ASP.NET Trace Viewer – WebForms, MVC, Web API, WCF
Software is a complex thing. As soon as you deploy an application to production—especially when you don’t have any control over the environment it’s running on—anything could happen. You’ve created this “monster” and set if free. It’s now free from your control. How do you tame this beast before it creates havoc? The first step is to trace its steps …
A Guide to Streams in PHP: In-Depth Tutorial With Examples
You’ve already used PHP streams in your PHP development. However, they’re transparent, so you may not have noticed them. Streams are powerful tools. In this article, you’ll learn to harness the power of streams in your PHP development and take your applications to the next level. What are streams? Streams provide on-demand access to data. This means you don’t need to …
Python Performance Tuning: 20 Simple Tips
Python is a powerful and versatile higher-order programming language. Whether you’re developing a web application or working with machine learning, this language has you covered. Python does well at optimizing developer productivity. You can quickly create a program that solves a business problem or fills a practical need. However, the solutions you reach when developing quickly aren’t always optimized for …
Python Geocoder: A Guide to Managing Locations in Your Apps
A great thing about building applications for the internet is that people from all around the world can benefit from your effort. You can gather new users from Taiwan to Colorado and meet their needs just as effectively. In this global context, it can be good to provide your users with local flavor to help them feel connected to you …
Rails Geocoder: A Guide to Managing Locations in Your Apps
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 …
Ruby Profiler Types and Why You Need Them
About a decade ago, the Ruby programming language made a big splash in the software engineering industry thanks to the Ruby on Rails web framework. The terse and friendly syntax of Ruby and the “they thought of everything” feeling of Rails offered web startups the ability to move quickly and nimbly. However, as an interpreted language, Ruby is slow compared to compiled languages. The …
Install Ruby on Ubuntu: Everything You Need to Get Going
In this post, you are going to learn how to install Ruby on Ubuntu. Specifically, we’re going to install it on the current LTS (Long-Term Support) version of Ubuntu, 18.04.2. If you’re totally new to this, don’t worry! I’ve written this guide with the assumption that you have no prior experience installing packages on Ubuntu. I will attempt to explain …
Install Ruby on Windows: Everything You Need to Get Going
Ruby is a well-established and well-regarded programming language. Once upon a time, installing Ruby on Windows came with problems, but things have come a long way. Today, there’s no reason someone couldn’t write Ruby code on any platform. First released in the mid-1990s, Ruby’s popularity soared with the release of Ruby on Rails in 2005. Ruby is primarily an object-oriented programming language (OOP), …
RVM: How to Get Started and Manage Your Ruby Installations
It’s the night before a big deadline, and just before you press the button to deploy, you notice a small but important bug! You open a terminal, type in the command to run the code—and all you see is a page of errors. It’s these palm-sweating moments that make us wonder whether we made the correct career decision. Configuring our …
Install Ruby on Your Mac: Everything You Need to Get Going
In this post, we’re going to show you how to install Ruby on your Mac. Along the way, we’ll learn about the steps involved and various bits of knowledge required to get up and going. So if you’re totally new, don’t worry! I’ll list each step and follow it with an “extra credit” section where I’ll explain that step in …
Rack Mini Profiler: A Complete Guide on Rails Performance
Ruby on Rails makes writing web applications a pleasure. It’s a powerful and intuitive platform, built on an equally powerful and intuitive language. But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth taking the time to check your code for bottlenecks and performance problems before you ship. In this post, I’ll cover how to use Rack Mini Profiler to profile your Rails …
Understanding Absence in Ruby: Present, Blank, Nil, Empty
Have you ever been confused about the different ways to handle missing data in the Ruby language? I know I have, and I’m sure I’m not alone in that. The options Ruby offers come in the form of several methods: “present?”, “blank?”, “nil?”, and “empty?”. There are all somewhat related since all of them check for the absence of data …
How to Do Authentication Right With Rails Devise
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 …