31 Oct 2024 » Node JS Express for FrontEnd Developers Part Eight: Documenting the API with Swagger
In Part Seven of this series, we investigated two testing approaches. The first approach used Postman as an HTTP client application to send data to individual routes. The second approach used the Jest and Supertest frameworks to write automated test scripts. Now we have a fully functional Task Management API that receives data and is able to query, persist, and modify that data using a database. We also have a complete test suite that tests all available API routes. All we are missing is documentation that demonstrates our API and shows us how to use it. In the final installment in this series, we will use Swagger to document our code.

28 Oct 2024 » Node JS Express for FrontEnd Developers Part Seven: Testing the API
In Part Six of this series, we integrated the Tasks API with MongoDB. We created and populated tasksDB’s task collection. We updated the mongo.js module to create and update tasks. We integrated tasks.js with MongoDB. This enhanced our existing querying functionality and enabled us to persist, update, and delete tasks from the database. We implemented the delete functionality by declaring a task to be inactive or active. As a result, we can reinstate deleted tasks by not removing them from the database.

26 Oct 2024 » Node JS Express for FrontEnd Developers Part Six: Task API Integration
In Part Five of this series, we integrated the User API with MongoDB. We started by installing MongoDB, creating a database, and populating the users collection. Next, we created a Mongo module that enabled us to query a single item or items from MongoDB. We concluded this installment by updating the Users module to take advantage of MongoDB. In this installment, we will add and populate a new taskDB collection named tasks. Next, we will update the Mongo module with functions that create and update a document in a collection. Finally, we will integrate the existing and new MongoDB functionality with the existing Task API routes. As with previous installments, the sample code and files for this installment can be downloaded from GitHub.

20 Oct 2024 » Node JS Express for FrontEnd Developers Part Five: Managing Data with MongoDB
In Part Four of this series, we created a fully functional task management API. We started by using routes to modularize our application code. Next, we explored how to create routes with default and optional parameters. In addition, we implemented task management functionality using HTTP POST, PUT, and DELETE commands. Despite our API’s increased sophistication, it lacked the ability to save and update data you created or modified. In this installment, we will remedy this problem by adding database support. As with previous installments, the sample code and files for this installment can be downloaded from GitHub.

15 Oct 2024 » Node JS Express for FrontEnd Developers Part Four: Understanding Routing:
In Part Three of this series, we explored how to use the Express Frameworks routing capabilities and middleware. We focused on how we could use routing to modularize our code, and how this would make it easier to manage and extend our task management API. In this installment, we will build on this knowledge to further extend the API and add a tasks module. This module will enable us to query and manage tasks. We will also use this opportunity to broaden our knowledge of Javascript and many of its powerful features and methods. As with previous installments, the sample code and files for this installment can be downloaded from GitHub.

04 Oct 2024 » Node JS Express for FrontEnd Developers Part Three: Understanding Routing
In Part Two, we had created endpoints to query and authenticate users. Using the Express Framework, you create endpoints by defining routes. In this installment, we dive deeper into routes and routing. We will also look at how we can take advantage of routing to modularize our web applications to make them easier to maintain and extend.As with previous installments, the sample code and files for this installment can be downloaded from GitHub.

10 Sep 2024 » Node JS Express for FrontEnd Developers Part Two: Building an API
In the first part of this series, we took our first steps to build a REST API with Node.js and Express. We installed Node and configured our development environment. Next, we created an index.js file and created the foundations of our API. The last step was to create a route that displays a message when calling the API.

06 Sep 2024 » Node JS Express for FrontEnd Developers Part One: Getting Starting
Node.js uses Chrome’s V8 Javascript engine to provide a cross-platform development platform. In other words, it takes Javascript out of the browser and lets you run it anywhere. This makes it especially attractive for web developers because Node lets you use a single language and development tools for backend and frontend applications.

04 Sep 2024 » Node JS Express for FrontEnd Developers a Practical Guide: Overview and Motivation
In ReactJS for Angular Developers a Practical Guide: Overview and Motivation, I explained how after a long period working with Angular, I felt I should reacquaint myself with React. I started by looking at my React project repos on Github. This proved to be a frustrating experience because, after seven years of working exclusively in one framework, it was nearly impossible to understand what I had written in the other. I had no choice but to relearn everything from scratch. Eventually, I was able to build a sample task management. After achieving my initial goals, I felt sufficiently competent in React to move on to other things. When I next revisited the project, I had a general idea of what everything did but understanding what I had created required more effort than I expected.

11 Jul 2024 » GitHub Copilot or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love AI-Driven Development
Love it or hate it, there is no denying that ChatGPT and its competitors are here, and it looks like they are here to stay. For optimists, Generative AI offered the chance for anyone with a good idea but lacking the necessary skills or training to do and make whatever they wanted. With AI, you could be the next Steven Spielberg, JK Rowling, or Taylor Swift in much less time and at a much lower cost. Conversely, if you were Steven Spielberg, JK Rowling, or Taylor Swift, it’s game over, but at least they had fun and can license their portfolios as training data. Now that the machines know how to code, it looks like there is no future in software development.

19 Nov 2017 » Minimum Viable Development: Updates and Coming Attractions
A look into what’s next for this site, and for it’s writer
Ok, I know it’s the oldest excuse in the book, but I’ve been busy. Yes, it’s been over two weeks since I pushed Getting the Word Out: Using Google, Facebook, and Medium to Grow Your User Base, so I owe you all an explanation. The truth is that with the help of my business coach, Naphtali Goldberg, I’ve started to put the plan I outlined in The Business of Development Part 5: Wrapping Up, into action. In this article, I’m going to give you a high level overview of my proposed venture. This will be followed by a brief teaser for a new service that I will be launching in the very near future.

06 Nov 2017 » Getting the Word Out: Using Google, Facebook, and Medium to Grow Your User Base
This article shares my experiences of launching my blog, the lessons I learned, and some tips that can help you publicize your business and content
On October 1, 2017 I launched this web site. As I stated in my first post, Going Live: Looking Forward and Back, I wanted to show the work I’ve done and give a taste of how I can use my knowledge and experience to help others. According to Google Analytics, over the course of one month my site has grown from zero to 140 users. Following this site’s stated mission to continue to help others, and to thank my readers, I would like to tell you what I did and how it can help you.

24 Oct 2017 » The Business of Development Part 5: Wrapping Up
Answering the question: If I have a chance as an independent developer?
Believe it or not, we’ve reached the end of this series. My aim has been to explore what makes it possible for someone like me, a professional, salaried developer decide to go out on their own. I wanted to describe a revolution that has been taking place over the last decade and a half, and how there are no a range of oppturnities that make it possible for coders to work on their own. Cloud services, APIs, serverless computing, and free and open source software are the what and the how. Before I can answer If, there is another question to answer, and that is why, and why now?

23 Oct 2017 » The Business of Development Part 4: Free as in...
Understanding how free and open source tools let us get our job done better than ever.

22 Oct 2017 » The Business of Development Part 3: The Serverless Solution
What is serverless commuting, and why it’s a game changer
Today we are finally getting down to business. In this article, we are going to look at server-less computing. This is the secret sauce that makes being an independent developer easier than ever.

15 Oct 2017 » The Business of Development Part 2: Call and Response
What are application programming interfaces (APIs), and why they matter.
It’s been a while, but it’s time to get back to work. This series looks at the world of independent development, and asks what makes it possible. In the first article in this series, I looked at cloud services. In order to explain, what these services can do, I need to explain how we can work with them, via APIs.

02 Oct 2017 » The Business of Development Part 1: Clouds on the Horizon
A look at how cloud services help independent developers
Launching this site was exhilarating. I couldn’t resist frequently checking Google Analytics. The good news is that my user numbers are higher than I expected. Even so, I have a long way to go before mega sites like the The Verge or TechCrunch have anything to fear. Now that the site is up and running, what’s next? One of the reasons for starting this blog was to explore what are my available options. Today, I’m going examine why I think I have a chance as an independent developer.

01 Oct 2017 » Going Live: Looking Forward and Back
Today marks the official launch of my web site. Before I get down to business, I’m going to start on a personal note.

26 Sep 2017 » Useful Git Commands
I’ve been using GIT for a while, but it’s always useful to have a short list of the commands you use ona daily basis. So here’s my short list of GIT commands. Enjoy

25 Sep 2017 » Links and Useful Resources
Here is a list of useful links I’ve been collecting:

20 Sep 2017 » Devops, Bash Scripting, and Build Systems
Much to my horror and shame, I have joined the world of DevOps. I not only automated our iOS/Android build system, but got it to run on my coworkers PC. Not bad for someone who wrote their first bash script a couple of weeks ago.

18 Sep 2017 » Maps of Love Update
Wow almost forgot about this. Please don’t follow the link, I removed it from Google Play. Also, I let the domain registration lapse,so I no longer own mapsoflove.com.

15 Sep 2017 » VS Code v IntelliJ
Of course, since I originally wrote this, I’ve completely moved over to VS Code for three basic reasons. First, over the last two years it has improved to the point that it’s way better than anything JetBrains can offer. WebStorm had better tab management, and local history. VSC tab management is as good, and any other features can be added via extensions.

21 Aug 2017 » Android Oreo Article
Link to Verge Article on Android Oreo

16 Jun 2017 » Amazon is Buying Whole Foods
Link to Verge Article.

08 Jun 2017 » React Native and IDT Update
It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything about work, so here’s a quick update. Since January, I’ve been working at IDT in Har Hotzvim. Ironically this is the same building as Cisco/NDS. Which is a bit weird because I keep bumping into my old collegues.

30 Mar 2017 » Teamwork
I’ve been having a careful what you wish for week. In my years as an amateur and professional developer, I always wanted to be part of a team. A couple of months ago I got my wish, and maybe being a lone dev was not so bad.

07 Feb 2017 » Starting React Native
After much frustration, today the pieces started falling into place with my PoC React Native app. Specifically, all the Redux, React-Redux, reducers, and providers. Tomorrow, more work on unit tests, http calls, and source control with git.

26 Jan 2017 » How Ionic Became a Top 50 Github Porject
Even though I have moved on to React Native, Ionic still has a special place in my heart. After all, I used it professionally for two years. Anyway, this is a nice article about some of the minds behind it.

26 Jan 2017 » Angular and React
Link to post on Angular and React.

09 Jan 2017 » Goodbye Champion Motors
Well guys it’s been great, but it’s time to move on. So it’s goodbye to Champion Motors, Bnei Brak, and complicated commuting. It’s also time to say farewell to AngularJS, Ionic, and Phonegap.

27 Dec 2016 » Job Love and Hate
Now that I’ve been in my current job for more than a year, here is a shot list of things I hated in my old job that I am initiating in my newer one.

18 Sep 2016 » Handling CORS Issues
Enough politics for one day, back to the geeky stuff. Firstly, I’ve finally got my head around BDD/TDD with Jasmine and Karma for AngularJS. This is going to be a big help over the next few months.

06 Jun 2016 » Writing Spec Documents
Finally, after over two weeks at work, and having been made to write a design document/functional spec, finally starting to write code.

05 Nov 2015 » Goodbye Arieh Finegold
You could say that he gave me my start in this business.

20 Oct 2015 » Medium Article on Age Diversity
Thanks for writing this. This is not just a Silicon Valley problem. From my experience, it’s also an issue here in Israel, the Startup Nation.

24 Sep 2015 » Imigix
About imigix CDN Service

09 Aug 2015 » iBeacons
Interesting day. Figured out estimote iBeacons and wrote a short Ionic demo app on my Android phone. Suppose these are my first steps into IoT.

24 Jul 2015 » Positive Feedback and TTD
Another interesting week at work, much to report. Firstly, got positive feedback from trade show for B2B app. Apparently, the sales team have another show in early August in Minnesota.

12 Jul 2015 » PCS Track Now
Still not available for general release, but the Inventory Management mobile app I’ve been on working on is being demonstrated in public at the Annual National Conference of the School Nutrition Society in Salt Lake City. I of course am still working in the office in Lod.

12 Jul 2015 » Push Chat and TFS
Finally got my push chat code working across iOS and Android apps. Got TFS working on iMac and MacBook. Also, got iOS ad hoc distribution profile up and running. So a really productive day, and the boss is happy. He’s really happy the apps running on his iPhone 6.

15 Jun 2015 » Push Chat and Local Storage
So, figured out local storage solution for our push chat, without resorting to sqlite or pouchdb. Now, need to figure how to resolve the user forum and tagging.

27 May 2015 » Configuration Management
Long and grueling day doing iOS related CM stuff. Still, managed to configure xCode to build and archive with our enterprise account. Then installed and setup OSX Server to push apps onto devices remotely. Happy it works, but sad I didn’t write any code. Now, waiting for ride home, and here at Somet El Al it’s only 40c.

27 Mar 2015 » .Net Rocks
Check out the comment read out at the 6.38 minute mark. Some dude, called Jonathan Gold, writes that the Ionic framework is totally awesome. Coincidence, no that dude is me and Ionic totally rocks.

30 Nov 2014 » Web Development Project
I’m pitching a web development project to a jerusalem area business. The project involves creating a web app using html, css, AngularJS, and Twitter Bootstrap. I already have a working prototype, but I need to estimate how much to charge my prospective client. Since I’m new to this field, I would welcome any information on the going rates for this type of work. Also, if you have any links to relevant web sites please send them to me.

15 Nov 2014 » The New Web
Slide share presentation.

02 Nov 2014 » MongoDB Part 2: Diving Deeper
MongoDB is a part of a family of data-storage technologies called document databases; these are sometimes referred to as document-orientated databases, or document stores. In this article, we will take a look at how MongoDB uses documents to store, retrieve, and manage data.

01 Nov 2014 » MongoDB Part 1: Key Values
Over the last forty years, relational databases have become the preferred method of persistent data storage for large organizations. They have in fact become so successful that not only are they used by most governments, enterprises, and large websites, you will find them your mobile phone and tablet.

03 Oct 2014 » Marked Up Part 3: Introducing Javascript
One of the biggest differences between HTML 5 and its predecessors, is its Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). The HTML 5 APIs let you automate and extend common tasks, such as file management, geolocation, and media processing. In fact, to understand and get the most out of HTML 5, you can’t avoid JavaScript.

02 Oct 2014 » Marked Up Part 2: Why do we Need HTML 5
In last month’s article, we followed how Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) developed from its humble origins to become the dominant platform for publishing, entertainment, and commerce. Before we can understand how HTML 5 can help us, I want to take a deeper look at HTML’s markup, some of the problems associated with it, and what was missing.

01 Oct 2014 » Marked Up Part 1: The Origins of HTML and HTML 5
In How HTML5 Crashed, Burned, and Rose Again, Rob Grossberg gives an excellent summary of HTML 5’s long and difficult path towards mainstream adoption. As we enter 2014, it seems that HTML 5 will play an important part within our solutions, platforms, and product. This article is the first in a series that will take a deeper look into HTML. This month I will explain the origins of HTML and why it took almost twenty years to go from the original spec to version 5.

01 Aug 2014 » Cloud Collaboration: Why You Should be Looking at Github and Related Services
Over the last few years, the word “cloud” has become attached to nearly everything computer-related. This obscures the fact that the cloud and cloud computing are revolutionizing the ways we collaborate and deliver products and services. In order to understand how things have changed and what cloud-based collaborating and delivery could look like, we need to look at GitHub.

24 May 2014 » Angular is Awesome
PDF of my Angular Ignite presentation

16 Sep 2013 » Maps of Love
mapsoflove 0.2 for Android is available from the Google Play store. This version includes maps and descriptions for the off-road, on-road, challenge, and touring rides.

20 Nov 2012 » Tablet Show 59
GTrack App mention on Tablet Show 59. See link for details http://gtrackapp.blogspot.co.il/…/gtrack-app-mentioned-on-t…

19 Aug 2012 » Tablet Show Comment 43
Second honorable mention. My comment on Tablet Show 43 was quoted in show 45: http://thetabletshow.com/?ShowNum=45

09 Aug 2012 » In Beta: Episode 10
Just heard my feed back to an episode of the In Beta podcast read out by the hosts. Check out the last five minutes of http://5by5.tv/inbeta/10