06.19.08

Blog layout updated

Posted in Tools at 12:12 am by cphoton

Hi All,

After reading this post, I decided to change the layout of the blog, so that it will be more pleasant and functional.

New features added:

  • You can now share the articles to several of the popular social networking sites.
  • You can see page views.

Next post will be lifehacking related, so please stay tuned!

04.25.08

Continuous Integration Tools

Posted in .NET, Development, Java, Tools at 12:48 am by cphoton

This time, I will be writing about Continuous Integration, I really recommend following it when doing software development.

What’s Continuous Integration?

As Martin Fowler said, Continuous Integration is a software development practice where several people integrate their work frequently, usually each person integrates at least daily – leading to multiple integrations per day.

One specific point of Continuous Integration is that the verification of the integration is done automatically using what is called a Continuous Integration Server. This server will fetch the latest code from the corresponding VCS in use (hopefully Subversion, read my article about it).

Why Continuous Integration?

The most important advantage of following the Continuous Integration practices is that errors are detected in a much earlier phase, specially when you use it along with Test Driven Development. Errors in this context not only mean bugs but integration errors as well, as integration is done on a daily basis.

It is not the only advantage of course, for example, deployments to production are a LOT easier as the build process is already in place. I recommend reading the benefits section of Fowler’s article for a detailed explanation.

Tools and Useful Resources

I have used the following tools for doing Continuous Integration:

I also heard good things about Hudson, so give it a try as well.

Useful resources:

Martin Fowler on Continuous Integration

6 Steps to Successful Continuous Integration

02.25.08

Tools – Part 2

Posted in Life, Tools at 9:13 am by cphoton

Hi All, I know it’s been a while since I last posted, I hope I can write more frequently here. I am writing this on my way to work, so I will be updating this post during the week with the links of any of the tools I mention.

Regarding tools, for browsing I use Firefox with the following plugins:

  • AdBlock Plus: As the name suggests, it is an advertising blocker. This will make page loads faster.
  • AdBlock Filterset.G Updater: Updater for the previous plugin, this will keep the blacklists updated.
  • Download Statusbar: Useful visual plugin for managing downloads in progress.
  • DownThemAll!: Download Manager (similar to Getright)
  • Fasterfox: For loading pages faster, tweaks the way the browser downloads pages. I don’t turbocharge it though.
  • FEBE: This is for doing backups of the plugins installed, useful if you need to uninstall Firefox or create new profiles.
  • Firebug: Very useful for debugging pages!
  • Forecastfox Enhanced: I usually get the weather information from this plugin. The difference with the regular version is that I can choose which satellite image to show.
  • FoxyProxy: Useful if you are changing the proxy configuration often.
  • Greasemonkey: This plugin lets you inject Javascript code into any page you visit. I use GM so that I can use the GMail Macro scripts, so that my e-mail checking experience is faster as I use only the keyboard to do most of the actions. You can also use this for enhancing the browsing experience for other sites, or even write your own scripts. Get more scripts here.
  • Image Zoom: Very useful for zooming in on images.
  • PDF Download: This plugin lets you choose whether you want to download a PDF file, save it or view it online.
  • ScribeFire: Blogging plugin. It is quite flexible as it supports multiple blogging platforms (Blogger, Livejournal, WordPress, etc.)
  • YSlow: This tool lets you diagnose performance problems in websites.

Got any useful plugin? just write it in the comments for this post and I will have a look at it :)

EDIT: Done inserting the links, that was quick!

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