Browsed by
Category: Software

Own the bug

Own the bug

Comments 0 Comment

Bugs slipping into code is inevitable, no matter how carefully we code and test. I have created many bugs in my day, and still make the odd mistake to this day. It is how you respond to your bugs that matter.

If you know there is a bug in your code, own up & fix it. If there is a chance that it has gotten out to live sites then patch & release a fix. If something on the customer side got affected by the bug then make the customer aware and sort it out. Not disclosing creates an atmosphere of mistrust, as the customer is bound to find out eventually.

If you work as part of a team, there is no debate here. Make sure your team knows what is going on. They cannot have your back if they are in the dark.

…

Read More Read More

Rise of the specialist coder

Rise of the specialist coder

Comments 0 Comment

When I started my career in software development over two decades ago there was no such thing as a specialist  coder.

Programmers as we were called in those days were required to do a mix of jobs. Gather business requirements, design the solution, code it and get it implemented. This included the graphic design, the end user training, etc. This attitude of “do it all” has served me well in my career. I have seldom been unable to solve any technical obstacle myself.

Today it is very different. Most developers specialize in front-end, back-end (server side) or ux (suer experience). Graphic design has diversified just as much.

…

Read More Read More

Software development is not about pumping out code

Software development is not about pumping out code

Comments 0 Comment

How often have you seen a new mobile app or website being promoted? I guess pretty often. It seems everyone is a website designer or mobile app developer these days.

This is all fine, until your app hits the big time, then things goes wrong pretty quickly.

First, your server runs into performance issues because you built your app so fast you did not have time to do performance testing, or even design for performance. Then you start throwing more developers at the problem, but quickly realise that 9 developers cannot make a baby in one month.

…

Read More Read More

Generating code is the smart way

Generating code is the smart way

Comments 0 Comment

I spend much of my day coding away furiously, mostly in Codeigniter (PHP, Javascript, jQuery & MySQL). The usual open source stuff.

field definitions

Most CRUD (create, read, update & delete) operations follows the same pattern of code.

There is a controller that drives the main functions, a list view (using the awesome datatables plugin) to show a table of data and a edit popup screen to create or modify the record. Then there is a delete and optional enable/disable function, together with maybe some additional tabs on the edit screen.

How hard can it be to combine all this into a code generator?

…

Read More Read More

ICT intervention for growth: The Garden Route software factory

ICT intervention for growth: The Garden Route software factory

Comments 0 Comment

The Garden Route is open for business. Serious business, software business.

This is the first in a series of posts identifying and substantiating several ICT projects to stimulate and grow the Garden Route ICT industry.

In a previous post I gave some background as to the startup scene within the Garden Route. The area is full of promise and talent, and serious startups are already operating from the area, with others relocating to take advantage of the superior lifestyle and great infrastructure.

The Garden Route is the ideal place from where to run a software factory. Over R750 million worth of software development work is exported form the Western Cape alone to India and other off-shore destinations. The Garden Route has the skills, capacity and experience to attract a significant number of these currently off-shored projects. The close proximity to Cape Town combined with the skills base and business experience should make the shift from India to the Garden Route and obvious one.

…

Read More Read More

The Garden Route startup scene

The Garden Route startup scene

Comments 1 comment

The Garden Route is open for Business!

We are seeing this more and more, as the Garden Route evolves from a sleepy holiday destination into a serious player in the economy, manufacturing everything from aircraft to furniture to electronics, and everything in between.

Combining this with a serious skills base we have a highly credible business destination.

We are fortunate that the Garden Route has it’s own pool of talent, both in the technology sector as well as on the business and mentoring side.

The ICT sector is particularly active, with well over 100 ICT companies operating from George and surrounds alone. These includes a mix of software, hardware, training and consultancy, providing a nice mix any startup would need in order to succeed. Regular industry get togethers like geek breakfasts result in a well connected network of entrepreneurs.

…

Read More Read More

Custom bandwidth monitoring in Radius Manager

Custom bandwidth monitoring in Radius Manager

Comments 15 comments

“I could not possibly have used so much bandwidth” is a phrase I hear often. Until now it has been cumbersome and sometimes impossible to show hotspot and wireless users their own usage history using the standard radius manager reports.

As a result I decided to write a small set of scripts to monitor and display bandwidth usage of radius manager accounts.

…

Read More Read More

Repositioning the Garden Route as a Technology Destination

Repositioning the Garden Route as a Technology Destination

Comments 0 Comment

The Garden Route has long been a quiet tourist destination, with little technology focussed business happening in the coastal towns of George, Knysna and Mosselbay.

The top industry sectors in the region has always been tourism and agriculture, with building and property development coming third. Recent economic changes has seen the building industry shrink, and the ongoing drought has made agriculture less sustainable. The economic profile of the region needs a change in order to sustain growth and employment.

Repositioning the region as a technology destination is not only a smart economic move, it is also the ideal move given all the region has going for itself already.

It has the infrastructure, the people, political will and the ability to make it happen.

…

Read More Read More

Garden Route IT Consortium Press Release

Garden Route IT Consortium Press Release

Comments 0 Comment

GARDEN ROUTE IT CONSORTIUM READY TO BECOME TECHNOLOGY HUB

A consortium of Garden Route based companies is ready to launch an IT technology hub in George which will create jobs and train up new skills.

George’s IT company owner Imel Rautenbach is currently drumming up support for the initiative at provincial and national level.  The consortium aims to use the Western Cape Province’s business arm to market and develop in order to get launched nationally and internationally. IT technology and electronic centred businesses will be the engine that will drive this local initiative. “The idea behind pooling resources and skills is to keep all our software and hardware developmental work in the Garden Route. We already have around 30 businesses on our data base that have all the necessary skills and technology to form the nucleus. “

…

Read More Read More

Keeping tabs on your bandwidth usage

Keeping tabs on your bandwidth usage

Comments 5 comments

I run a business which rents out fully serviced office space on a short and long term basis.  One of the services I offer my customers is internet access.

During the last few months the average ADSL bandwidth usage has grown to over 50 GB per month.  As bandwidth is still relatively expensive in SA (I use Afrihost’s excellent value for money ADSL at R29/GB) I needed to see where this actually goes. …

Read More Read More