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The Hard-Core Coder

~ I can't stop writing code!

The Hard-Core Coder

Tag Archives: computer programmer

DataCollector Factories

16 Thursday Apr 2020

Posted by Wyrd Smythe in Stories

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

computer programmer, computer programming, data, Java, software, software design, software development

Last time I introduced the DataCollector application, but didn’t have room to get into the use of factory classes. There isn’t often a need for a factory class, but they can be useful when you need to create objects at run-time without knowing their class until then.

The general approach involves a function that returns instances of a class based on run-time information. In some cases the instances are limited to a predetermined set of classes, in other cases it can any class the known to the code.

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DataCollector

29 Saturday Feb 2020

Posted by Wyrd Smythe in Stories

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

computer programmer, computer programming, data, Java, software, software design, software development

When I first posted about my DataBridge utility I mentioned the DataCollector, which was a Java-based framework for quickly building apps that interacted via web services with a third-party CRM services provider.

In this post I’ll introduce the DataCollector framework. For obvious proprietary reasons, this will be fairly generic, but I think the basic architecture is worth sharing. It’s a nice example of using factory classes.

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DataBridge Drivers

07 Friday Feb 2020

Posted by Wyrd Smythe in Stories

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

computer programmer, computer programming, data, Java, software, software design, software development

Last time I started the story of my DataBridge application — a Java-based tool for transferring and transforming tabular data, such as TAB, CSV, and XML files. It could also read from and write to ODBC tables.

The app itself was just a framework that implemented a basic IPO model to transfer data. The details were up to the Input, Process (in this case, Mapping), and Output, drivers loaded at run time.

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DataBridge

06 Monday Jan 2020

Posted by Wyrd Smythe in Stories

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Tags

computer programmer, computer programming, data, Java, software, software design, software development

The last story was about PF.EXE, a file-processing utility I wrote for my own uses way back when. That one was a combination of C code and 8086 assembler, written for MS-DOS (worked fine in Windows), that read and wrote disc files. It had a toolkit of things it could do to them, depending on command line switches.

Many years later, using Java, I created more capable versions, the culmination of which was a suite called DataBridge. It turned out to be some of the most valuable work I ever did for The Company.

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Anyone Can Code?

14 Friday Sep 2018

Posted by Wyrd Smythe in Opinion

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

computer code, computer programmer, computer programming, real programmers, software design, software development, software industry

There’s a general ethic these days — that anyone can code — and like a lot of things, there’s some truth to it, but also some silliness. As usual, it really depends on what we mean by “anyone can code.”

If we mean it in the same way we might say, “anyone can drive,” I think it’s silly. But if we mean in the same way we might say, “anyone can doctor (or lawyer),” well, then I still think it’s silly.

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Aside

Update July 2017

20 Thursday Jul 2017

Posted by Wyrd Smythe in Blog, Python

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

computer languages, computer programmer, data, Matplotlib, NOAA, programming language, Pythonista, SQL, SQLite, xkcd

In the unlikely event anyone is reading this, and, more in the original spirit of “web logs“, as much a diary entry to record both the passing of time and the moment, after a long period of quiet, and in the long-winded run-on way that I sometimes have, a post.

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Computer programming is hard!

16 Monday Jun 2014

Posted by Wyrd Smythe in CS101, Opinion

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

computer programmer, computer programming, computer science, software, software design, software development

Computer Programming is hard! It’s at least as hard as what commercial architects do, and I will argue that it’s as intellectually difficult as what doctors and lawyers do.

Many people think it’s easy, because they know some nine-year-old who “programs,” but there’s a difference between fooling around with the computer and building good software applications.

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Rule #3: Don’t Ignore Warnings

13 Tuesday May 2014

Posted by Wyrd Smythe in CS101

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

compiling code, computer programmer, computer programmers, computer programming, errors, Java, software development, warnings

There have been times when, working on other people’s code, one of the first things that pops up is that their code generates thousands of warnings. I’m not exaggerating the number; there have been at least two times I can recall where someone’s code set generated that many warnings. And both times, the code set wasn’t all that large (only tens of thousands of lines).

Which leads us to Rule #3: Don’t ignore warnings!

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The Universal Answer

10 Monday Mar 2014

Posted by Wyrd Smythe in Opinion

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

computer programmer, computer programmers, computer programming, computer science, it depends, software design, The Universal Answer, Universal Answer

At some point it strikes you. For some it  happens early in Computer Science class after hearing a professor say it for the umpteenth time. For others it happens when hearing it come from their own mouths for the umpteenth time. The Universal Answer to any (and all) computer (science) question(s).

“It depends.”

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Wyrd Smythe

Wyrd Smythe

The canonical fool on the hill watching the sunset and the rotation of the planet and thinking what he imagines are large thoughts.

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