2015-05 on Funky Si's Test

User Groups and F#

funkysi1701@gmail.com (funkysi1701) — Sat, 30 May 2015 20:00:45 +0000

For a while I have been threatening to try a user group. Well this week I went to my first meeting.

The user group I went to is called Leeds Sharp who are celebrating their third birthday, happy birthday guys and thanks for the cake.

The talk was all about F#. I know nothing about F# other than it is in visual studio. The speaker was Phil Trelford an expert in F# and former game developer who regularly speaks at conferences. Phil is an expert programmer, one of his stories was that while he had a broken arm, he wrote a copy of Excel in F#. Even with two hands I wouldn’t know where to start on something like that.

There are plenty of advantages to using F# over C#, fewer lines of code was one. In Phil’s example he had some C# code which was about 30 lines but the F# was 2, part of the reason for this is F# has no {}.

I found myself thinking this must be too good to be true there must be some disadvantages to using F#?

I don’t know what they are yet, I am guessing you need to play around with the language a bit to really understand them.

One claim that was made was that F# has less bugs. I am unsure how this can be true. Code is written by humans, humans will make mistakes which ever language they choose, there will be bugs.

After the group I came away with a few things to try out. Try the F# tutorial that can be found in Visual Studio, try a Koan, this is a piece of code that contains failing tests, in the process of fixing the tests you learn the language, come back next time to Leeds Sharp and learn something else.

Visual Studio

funkysi1701@gmail.com (funkysi1701) — Tue, 26 May 2015 20:00:45 +0000

I recently replaced my installation of Visual Studio 2013 with Visual Studio 2015 RC.

I like the new version, I am not a Visual Studio expert so it will probably take me a while to find all the good stuff but here are some initial thoughts.

Being as my MSDN subscription is still valid I have installed the professional version to take advantage of its extra features like CodeLens.

One of the first things I spotted was that the integration with Azure has been improved. In the last version it was difficult to sign in to Azure with the correct credentials, especially if you have more than one Azure account. Now you can add multiple Accounts and Subscriptions.

CodeLens is a feature that has been around in Visual Studio since 2013, but in 2015 it is available in Professional meaning more people have access to it.

CodeLens gives coders useful information at a glance. Above each class/method is listed how many references there are. If you click on the number of references you can see where that class or method is referenced in the rest of your code. Useful to be able to see which methods or classes are not being used.

Next CodeLens shows who (according to git) last changed the class or method and how many days ago that was. Clicking on it shows a cool graph of when changes have happened and who did them.

Next you can see the number of changes that have been made, basically a source control history, but without having to load up your git client.

For code that doesn’t contain classes or methods such as T_SQL you can see at the bottom of your code window the last two CodeLens information to help you track down what changes have happened recently.

The last new feature that I have noticed is the Light Bulbs that keep showing up all over my code. I think the Light Bulbs might be called Quick Actions, but whatever they are called they are suggestions on how to improve your code. So far they have suggested to be to get rid of using references that are not used, simplify a fully qualified name, drop unneeded this keywords. I am sure more will popup as I do more coding.

These improvements to Visual Studio I like, and I am sure there are many more that I haven’t noticed. I expect support for the vNext .net framework is also in there somewhere which hopefully I can play around with soon.

Overflow

funkysi1701@gmail.com (funkysi1701) — Fri, 22 May 2015 20:00:45 +0000

Today I encountered a new error.

Run-time error ‘6’: Overflow doesn’t really tell me much. The error was occurring in the Access ADP front-end of our main database. It was only occurring for one particular Id number which was really confusing me.

First thing I tried was to remove the most recent changes I had made, this made no difference. So time to look at the VBA code that was run just before the error.

Dim iPropertyId As Integer
iPropertyId = DLookup(“PropertyId”, “Survey”, “[ProjectNo]=” & Me.ProjectNo)

All looks good, even running the Dlookup query in SQL Management Studio threw no errors.

SELECT PropertyId FROM dbo.Survey WHERE ProjectNo =

Next thing I tried was explicitly setting iPropertyId to the problematic Id, still the same error.

This made me look at the error message again. Overflow suggest something being too big, but what could it be.

Integer has a size limit of 32,767 and the value I was trying to pass into iProperty was 32779. This was what was causing the problem, my database had grown to such a size that Integer was too small, I needed to change it to a Long Integer. Long has a size of 2,147,483,647 so my database should keep working for a while more.

The famous programming help website Stack Overflow is named after such an error. This error shows how difficult it is to decide what variable type to use, as you don’t know how quickly your database will grow.

Trying windows 10

funkysi1701@gmail.com (funkysi1701) — Sun, 17 May 2015 20:00:45 +0000

My laptop has been getting a bit cluttered up with stuff so this weekend I gave it a reset.

As I am using windows 8 this was much easier than doing a format reinstall which I have done many times with previous OSes. Open settings and select recovery and after about 4 hours everything was back to factory settings.

I then installed a few updates and then installed the windows 10 preview. One of the requirements for windows 10 is Windows 8 Update (the one that came after 8.1), it took a few reboots and updates until I got that installed.

I had purchased the pro pack which gives you the same features as windows 8 pro but I didn’t notice until after I installed 10 that this hadn’t been installed. I will need to roll back to windows 8 apply the update and then reinstall 10 again. I can’t really be bothered to do that, so I will live without HyperV for now. As it is I have done a lot of sitting around waiting for things to finish installing.

I much prefer Windows 10 to Windows 8, an earlier preview had an issue with drivers for my second screen but that appears to have been resolved now. The start menu is back and I prefer it, to being taken to that extra screen of options that windows 8 had.

I prefer the email client that windows 8 had to the windows 10 version as my work emails don’t work with it. I assume this is due to how my exchange server has been configured and maybe a later preview will allow my email to work or failing that I will have to get emails at work fixed properly.

All apps now open in windows which is much nicer. Cortana is very similar to Google Home on my phone where I can talk and ask it stuff. But I never use this sort of feature apart from testing it.

The new web browser has some nice features like the option to scribble over a web page but nothing that special that I think I will change my default browser from Chrome. It will be interesting to see how it performs in browser stats.

I am part way through installing Visual Studio 2015 RC, but I think that will have to be a separate post.

As A Service

funkysi1701@gmail.com (funkysi1701) — Sat, 16 May 2015 20:00:45 +0000

In Cloud Computing there are a lot of terms that end aas or As a Service. Most of these I hadn’t heard of until I started writing this list.

Any service that is delivered over the internet instead of hosted locally on your network or PC could in theory be described as an As a Service.

PaaS Platform As a Service

This is one of the big ones. Microsoft Azure provides a Platform as a Service which I am familiar with. Platform as a Service is where a provider provides a platform where you can build apps or websites.

SaaS Software As a Service

Another popular one. Software as a Service can be as simple as a website that runs a service that a customer wants to use, I work for a company that provides a SaaS product.

IaaS Infrastructure As a Service

The last of the big ones. A good example of IaaS is a Virtual Machine which can either be hosted on a server somewhere (a private cloud) or on the internet via a company such as Azure (public cloud) The Pizza as a Service diagram illustrates the differences between Saas, PaaS and Iaas.

NaaS Network As a Service

This is just a type of IaaS that specializes in providing networking. Anything that provides network connectivity could be included in this category.

CaaS Communications As a Service

Another subtype of IaaS this time specializing in communications, this could include Voice over IP or other similar technologies.

MONaaS Monitoring As a Service

If you have a SaaS, PaaS or IaaS you will most likely want to monitor that it is working, I certainly do. This is something that is often included in your IaaS or PaaS package. Azure has various tools for monitoring and this could be included in this category.

BaaS Backup As a Service

With the growth of cloud storage and the decrease in its cost, backing up to the cloud is a very attractive option. Any service that allows you to backup and restore from the internet can be included in this category. Your provider needs to manage your backups for it to be truly BaaS rather than just another place to store your files.

DaaS Desktop As a Service

This is where your desktop is visualized and stored in the cloud. I know very little about this as I have never used it, but I would imagine you need a strong internet connection for it to work reliably.

DBaaS Database As a Service

This is a simple one if your database is stored in the cloud like Azure SQL Database then it fits into this category. If you run your own sql server install on a VM then it doesn’t fit in this category as you are still managing it yourself and is IaaS

HaaS Hardware As a Service

HaaS this is another subcategory of IaaS which concentrates on hardware.

IDaaS Identity As a Service

This is where the management of who you are is managed in the cloud. Single Sign-On could be achieved if a website redirected determining if you are who you say you are to a particular IDaaS. Azure Active Directory is an example of this.

SaaS Storage As a Service

You get the idea now, storing files on a remote cloud product is an example of Storage as a Service. DropBox or OneDrive are good examples of this.

Writing this blog post has given me a better understanding of all the aaS that are out there. I am sure I haven’t explained some of these very well and no doubt missed some off.

Top 25 Star Trek Characters

funkysi1701@gmail.com (funkysi1701) — Sun, 10 May 2015 20:00:45 +0000

I am going to take a break this week from talking about technology to talk about Star Trek.

I have just listened to a podcast where they consider this list of great Star Trek Characters. I am now going to try and come up with my own top 25 characters. Here we go.

Spock. My number one star trek character is Spock. Leonard Nimoy who recently passed away brilliantly brought this character to life. We have the inner turmoil that many of us can associate with, we have a journey to become more human, we have the pursuit of logic. We have the great interplay between him and McCoy and Kirk.

Data. My second number one star trek character, well OK, second star trek character is Data. His weekly exploration of what it meant to be human is star trek’s best exploration of the human condition. There are so many moments which make me like Data but I think when he builds his daughter, Lal is possibly my favourite.
Picard. The Captain of the Enterprise. You want to know about leadership or diplomacy you watch Captain Picard in action. If only more of our world leaders could be like Captain Picard we would have all our Earthly problems sorted by tea-time.
Kirk. The original captain of the Enterprise, not so much a Diplomat but could talk a computer to death in minutes. A fun guy to be around as long as you didn’t work in security or want a long lasting relationship with him, (sorry ladies this guy is married to the Enterprise)
Worf. Our favourite Klingon. The most honourable man on this list and could handle himself in a battle. Also popular with the ladies if Troi and Dax have anything to say about it.
Sisko. Our third captain, but Sisko had much more on his plate than the others. He had a Son to bring up, he lost his wife, he was in the middle of the biggest war the Federation has ever seen (at least on screen anyway), he became a religious icon and later a God.
7 of 9. The sexy borg from Voyager what’s not to like? Also brought some much needed conflict to the Voyager crew.
Garak. The plain and simple tailor from DS9. But is he also a spy? There are so many layers to Garak you have no idea what to believe.
McCoy. Bones to his friends. A great Doctor but even greater friend to Jim Kirk and Spock (not that either of them would admit it.)
EMH. Please state the nature of the medical emergency, started the show off as just another piece of technology and ended up one of the crews most important characters.
Janeway Coffee Addict and defeated the Borg our first female captain.
Dukat. DS9s regular bad guy. Started off Bad, then softened to be a good guy for a bit and then signed an alliance that started a war, in the middle of that he went crazy and ended up going to the Bajoran Hell
Weyoun. The leader of the dominion from the Gamma Quadrant. Was a clone so he could be killed off a few times and still come back. Had some great interplay with Dukat and later Damar.
Damar. Started life as Dukat’s lieutenant and rose in rank to leader of his people, before switching sides to lead a rebellion.
Scotty. You cannae change the laws of Physics. An engineer that weekly performed miracles, more often because of large repair estimates.
Barclay. The only Starfleet officer that was unsure of himself and couldn’t talk to people (Oh a bit like me then)
Riker The Captain Kirk of Picard’s crew, could inspire his crew and was popular with the ladies, but looks better with a beard.
O’Brien. The everyman of DS9. He constantly had a station that was falling apart but he managed to keep it going, a bit like how I feel sometimes.
Quark/Rom/Nog. These three Ferengi made the Ferengi good again. Nog started off as comic relief and ended up a Starfleet officer after turning his back on the acquisition of profit. Rom like his son turned his back on profit to fix things, and Quark was the businessman always had his eye for profit.
Odo. The shape shifting outsider that maintained order. Was truly an outsider with no idea where he had come from, but eventually he came to tolerate and even love us Solids.
Martok Klingon with one eye that welcomed Worf into his house after his second dis-commendation.
Zefram Cochrane Without this guy there would be no Star Trek. Invented the warp drive and enjoyed drinking.
Uhura Just a communications officer, but in reality was so much more. One of the first black women on television and inspired a generation to better themselves, was the other half of the first inter-racial kiss
Mirror Universe Hoshi. Our universe Hoshi Sato was timid and scared of warp drive, the mirror universe version ended up empress of an entire Empire.
Kai Winn Power corrupts and Absolute power corrupts absolutely and Kai Winn is a prime example of this, so blinded by power she couldn’t hear what her precious Gods were telling her and ended up sleeping with her arch enemy.

Using your Rubber Duck

funkysi1701@gmail.com (funkysi1701) — Mon, 04 May 2015 20:00:45 +0000

Rubber Duck is a process in development where you talk through an issue with an inanimate object such as a Rubber Duck. It gets its name from the book The Pragmatic Programmer where it was first used.

I am the only programmer where I work and often I find myself with a question that I can’t find the answer to. I do however have a few friends who are far more knowledgeable than I am about this sort of thing. I often find myself explaining my problem via an email to them. During the process of writing this email I have to explain my problem and this sometime reveals the problem and I don’t even need to send the email. At other times by the time they have replied to me, my brain has moved on with the problem sufficiently that I am close to a solution if I am not already there.

Other people use different items as their ‘Rubber Duck’, people on the code newbie forum have used items such as a cat, stuffed octopus, a Lego minfig, or just plain old talking to yourself.

Being the only programmer in my office is difficult. A simple what do you think of this question that could be asked across the office has to be done inside my head and I may think a needlessly complex solution is better than a simple one just because I haven’t thought of the simpler version yet. There are of course advantages to being the only programmer, I can do what I want and learn any technology I like, but I am starting to think the advantages of programming in a group are outweighing programming alone.