Bytes of Wisdom (Joshua Lockwood)

Getting my dual display setup to work on Ubuntu 9.0.4

2009-09-23T15:59:00Z

My Macbook Pro recently died and I decided to stage a new development desktop using Ubuntu 9.0.4. I've had colleages complain in the past about poor support for ATI graphics cards and was a bit concerned aboout getting the hardware that I had handy work correctly. Well, I suppose I got lucky. I decided to pass on what I learned with the hopes that it would help others in the same situation (namely Mr. Meridth). First off, here's the hardware I am working with: Dell Optiplex 755 (love that model #...(read more)

Yet Another Java Decompiler

2009-08-05T18:23:00Z

I've used JAD for years, but it has been abandoned and doesn't support the newer versions of Java well. If you still want to use JAD, soemone was kind enough to set up a new mirror for the last version: http://www.varaneckas.com/jad. Fortunately, there's an even better alternative, JD: http://java.decompiler.free.fr/. JD is available as either a standalone UI or a plugin for Eclipse (which is a bummer since I only use Intellij). This simple little tool has been pretty useful, but I still wish the...(read more)

Awesome Code Analysis Plugin for Java

2009-04-15T21:59:00Z

I was browsing the plugins available for Intellij and came across this gem: http://findbugs.sourceforge.net/. Hats off to University of Maryland for this nifty little tool (does not require Intellij). Findbugs does static analysis of your projects and identifies patterns for bad code. General categories it includes are malicious code vulnerabilities, performance issues, "dodgy" code (dead code, abuse of statics, etc), correctness issues, experimental (not totally sure what this one is yet...(read more)

"I don't have time to test!"

2009-04-13T21:55:00Z

Please pardon me while I rant a bit... How many times have we heard this response when we press our co-workers to test the code they are writing. This argument is often made when the team is up again tight deadlines and excessive pressure from management for delivery. I've even made the argument myself before, but find it increasingly harder to say it with a straight face. Way back in 2000 I was given a copy of "Extreme Programming Explained" as a going-away present. I was leaving a...(read more)

QUnit: Almost just what I was looking for...

2009-03-11T23:20:00Z

I started using QUnit a few months back and have really enjoyed it. That said, I was irked by a few minor features of QUnit and finally got irritated enough to make some changes. First off, what's with adding "module: " as a delimiter for the module name and the test? It used to be "$". Well, I've been using it with a BDDish convention and this feature finally got under my skin. I checked the current version of testrunner.js and it seems to be unchanged. Simple change...(read more)

Selenium and Fitnesse (WebTest) with Firefox 3

2008-11-13T11:56:00Z

Just wanted to pass something on... I've been using WebTest on Fitnesse for a while but had issue when trying to use it on my Mac. I found that the problem was with the Selenium server jar. You have to hack the jar to get it up and running, but the hack is pretty simple. Here's a URL detailing what must be done: http://www.spacevatican.org/2008/9/27/selenium-and-firefox-3 For my own benefit, I'll reiterate what the other blog stated. First off, here's the symptom. When you try to...(read more)

Just wanted to share something that made my day.

2008-09-28T07:27:00Z

Sniff...sniff...I think I'm in love... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3iryBLZCOQ...(read more)

Seeking Closures

2008-09-04T00:03:00Z

So, what's a closure and why should I care? As Bob Dylan said, "...the times they are a changin'." The strange world of functional programming , once restricted to more esoteric languages such as LISP, Erlang and Haskell, is now invading the mainstream. Languages such as C# and Java are now incorporating concepts once unique to functional programming languages. These changes should bring simplicity to these more mainstream languages, but I find they are often misunderstood (by myself...(read more)

Learning to Speak with a LISP

2008-08-29T20:36:39Z

So it's now my second week of playing with LISP and I have to tell you it's been a heck of a ride so far. I've played with LISP in the past, but never with such intensity. I figured I'd share some of my experiences as I engage with this language once more. It's hard to convey the value of learning LISP. I've played with Scheme in the past as essentially mental gymnastics...the LISP family really challenges the way one thinks about programming in general. More recently, the...(read more)

Awesome response to an interview question...

2008-08-27T16:34:00Z

Just a quicky here. I've been reading "Practical Common Lisp" by Peter Seibel (great book by the way) and came across a really funny footnote. I think I'll use the interviewing engineer's response if given the chance in the future. Here it is: "A friend of mine was once interviewing an engineer for a programming job and asked him a typical interview question: how do you know when a function or method is too big? Well, said the candidate, I don't like any method to be...(read more)

Note on sets in hibernate/nHibernate

2008-06-05T20:23:00Z

I just wanted to share this with anyone who is not aware... Caveat: After reviewing my original post and the comments that follow I had initially elected to change the container tag in the example below from set to list. After thinking about it further I've returned the tag to 'set', since this is after all what I was trying to illustrate in the first place (although understanding the risk of using set should be understood). Granted, a list probably should have been used, but this was...(read more)

Virtual Joy

2008-06-01T17:23:00Z

At home I have only my Linux box to work with. I'm quite content with it, but I do have some DOS and older Windows apps that I like to use. Unfortunately, by DOS floppy's are now dead (as is my floppy drive) and the MSDN DOS download is for making DOS floppies. What I really wanted was an ISO for DOS that I could use to install on a VM. Fortunately, I came across FreeDOS ( http://www.freedos.org/ )! FreeDOS is an open source DOS implementation. It has been around for some time, but I was...(read more)

Nested classes with JUnit

2008-04-28T13:56:00Z

Recently I was playing with JUnit 4.X. I wanted to be able to define tests in nested classes as I had before with NUnit. This was to facilitate BDD-ish test definitions, where I break up unit tests by test context. My first attempt failed (of course) because JUnit was unable to see the nested classes and the failed to run. After a bit of digging, I ran across a sparsely documented feature that allowed me to do what I wanted. Namely by using: @RunWith(Enclosed.class) Below is an example, hope it's...(read more)

Using SSL Websphere MQSeries and .Net

2008-03-25T15:44:00Z

Hi all, I've haven't posted anything since my last contract...sorry about that (what can I say, I've been busy...Ma, AgileJoe's been abusing me!). In any case, this is as much for my benefit (and documentation for the current team) as it is for the community at large (I never remember this stuff so I want to be able to google it). I did see some other blogs that tackle this subject...but alas...the web *** have blocked most technical blogs here. I was recently tasked with getting...(read more)

Metaphors and Mathematics

2007-11-09T14:59:09Z

I haven't posted myself in a bit and decided to go ahead and drop a few lines...albeit a little off topic. I've been looking for supplemental maths books for both my children. As you Computer Science types know, texts for elementary Maths (and more advanced maths for that matter) can be painfully dully and often confusing. In searching for texts for my two kids, daughter 13 and son 10, I wanted to find materials that were more interesting than their usual fare. This while addressing their...(read more)