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Building a Node.js + Express.js + Jade CoderWall + Geekl.st Portfolio

Tue, 15 May 2012 04:26:52 GMT

Part 2 will be coming soon... get a node.js site started with express.js, ready for a mash up. Alright, diving right in. First, get an express.js application setup and install all the dependencies. Creating the Express.js Web Application Next get a basic app with a message built. This will m...

My Top 4 Ideal Dev Shop & Product Characteristics, Yours?

Sat, 22 Oct 2011 18:44:22 GMT

What is an ideal software project? What is an ideal delivery cycle? What is an ideal culture? From a client's perspective do they see the team as a sluggish liability or is the development team proactive and looking for the next strategic or tactical step to take? Ideally, I see the development team as a group that should be leading a company with technology. If a team isn't doing that, they're likely to be running the risk of appearing as a liability and risk. Often these are the types of teams that ar...

Code Katas: Kicking off With a Little JavaScript « Composite Code

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 13:48:11 GMT

BEWARE, this is a crazy long post. So before you jump in for a read, just know that it isn't a two minute read. A few days ago, my friend Aeden Jameson (@daliful) asks, "you want to work through a code kata this weekend?" I thought, well yeah, that'd be cool. So we met at Cafe Fiore and hacked out the beginning of a Kata based on the Roman to Arabic and Arabic to Roman Numerals. It was fun, which led me to working up an actual blog entry related to our kata session. This however, is just me working thr...

A TimePiece of C# and JavaScript « What's next for improvements?

Sun, 21 Aug 2011 22:40:55 GMT

I'd love to hear people's feedback on what should be the next steps to improve these libraries, especially the JavaScript library.

HTML5 Feature Support Detection « Composite Code

Sat, 06 Aug 2011 04:34:25 GMT

HTML5 is a collect of individual features, that currently are either supported or not by the current array of browsers. The best approach I've found at this time, is to write for HTML5 and use other tools to downgrade graceful. The following are some detection techniques that are in use today: Input Types: HTML5 defines over a dozen new input types for use in web forms. For determining which of these new form elements is supported use the following code, per element (yes I know, that's a pain in the as...

Service & Scheduler: Using Topshelf, Quartz, & Other OSS Bits Part 2 «

Sat, 06 Aug 2011 01:44:28 GMT

In the previous entry in this series I setup a service using TopShelf. Now it is time to jump into scheduling with Quartz. I've started an entirely new service to work through an example of this service functionality. To read more about Quartz.NET from the source, check out the Quartz.NET Project Site or the Github Repo. Open up Visual Studio and create another Windows Console Project. Next add a reference to Quartz.NET with Nuget. Adding Quartz. Next add a class called SomeJob as shown. using System...

Service & Scheduler: Using Topshelf, Quartz, & Other OSS Bits Part 1

Thu, 04 Aug 2011 00:50:00 GMT

This how-to entry will detail the steps for getting Topshelf installed, running, and a schedule integrated and timed appropriately using Quartz. Once that is complete I'll go over how to get custom schedules added to the service.Topshelf To get Topshelf up and running open up Visual Studio, start a Windows Console Project, and then use Nuget (if you don't have Nuget installed, I suggest doing that ASAP, you'll need it to follow along with any reference additions). Get Topshelf Through Nuget Once you h...

JavaScript Development Environment « Composite Code

Sat, 23 Jul 2011 15:38:01 GMT

JavaScript is pretty easy to develop with, usually only a browser and a text editor is the only thing needed. But seriously, that's a bit slow going. It helps a lot of have certain tools, editors, debuggers, or other pieces to make the development move along smoothly. So far, over the last few months of doing a little JavaScript here and there I've accrued the following tools to help with my JavaScript Development. First a few descriptions of what I've been using and and why, then toward the end I'll pro...

A SQL Server .NET ASP.NET MVC RESTful Web Services Facade - Part I

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 02:06:56 GMT

Did I get enough of the acronyms and key words in the header? It looks like soup! :O This is a somewhat messy project to build a prototype layer around SQL Server. The reason for this, shockingly, is to allow for a SQL Server to be used by frameworks and systems that normally don't or can't access the database directly. In my particular scenario we're working on getting Ruby on Rails running with JRuby in a Windows Environment. Because we will need to utilize a lot of SQL Server Databases, it seemed l...

Wordpress on Amazon Web Services (AWS) Linux EC2 Micro Instance, For F

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 16:50:22 GMT

I've been wanting to get a write up done for WordPress on AWS, the fact that it is free for a year, since they've released the free-tier many months ago. Well I finally got around to it, however it isn't a write up. I went ahead and put the work in to produce a video of the steps for setup & configuration. Enjoy. AWS EC2 Linux WordPress Install? JavaScript required to play AWS EC2 Linux WordPress Install. The comman...

Stubbing a File Stream, Memory Stream, or Stream « Composite Code

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 22:25:02 GMT

Here's the class that has a Func setup as a property. The reason this is setup, is so that the stream can actually be stubbed on the ComplianceReportingJob. Otherwise if the Stream was just being used as is, instantiated in the class, or passed in via injection, we still couldn't get it mocked or stubbed. Especially if the class ComplianceReportingJob is under test. public class ComplianceReportingJob : IJob { readonly ITradeRepository tradeRepo; readonly IFileSystem fileSys; public Compl...

Bureaucrat Job Class, Seriously « Composite Code

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 00:05:16 GMT

I was looking through some code and found this class recently. It almost reminds me of a class I saw called a speed up loop. This however, is obviously more important to the grand scheme of politics eh! public class BureaucratJob : IJob { readonly ITradeReconciler reconciler; readonly ICalculationQueue queue; ILog log; public BureaucratJob(ITradeReconciler reconciler, ICalculationQueue queue) { this.reconciler = reconciler; this.queue = queue; } public void...

ASP.NET MVC 3 w/ Razor Infrastructure Template « Composite Code

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 03:26:59 GMT

I decided, after poking around with Visual Studio 2010 Templates tonight, to publish a baseline infrastructure using ASP.NET MVC 3 w/ Razor, Entity Framework, and other elements using the .NET stack. So far I've only got some skeleton code put together for the infrastructure project and posted it to m...

Put Stuff in Your Windows Azure Junk Trunk - ASP.NET MVC Application

Thu, 10 Feb 2011 20:38:21 GMT

If you haven't read Part 1 of this series, you'll need to in order to follow along with the JunkTrunk Repository. Open the solution up if you haven't already and navigate to the Models Folder...

Put Stuff in Your Windows Azure Junk Trunk - Repository Base

Wed, 09 Feb 2011 10:58:00 GMT

Alright, so the title is rather stupid, but hey, it's fun! :) This project I setup to provide some basic functionality with Windows Azure Storage. I wanted to use each of the three mediums; Table, Blob, and Queue, and this example will cover each of these things. The application will upload and store images, provide a listing, some worker processing, and deletion of the images & associated metadata. This entry is part 1 of this series, with the following schedule for subsequent entries: Part 1: Today (this entry) Part 2: The Junk Trunk ASP.NET MVC 2 Web Application (Publishing on February 10th) Part 3: Windows Azure Worker Role and Storage Queue (Publishing on February 11th) Title aside, schedule laid out, description of the project completed, I'll dive right in! Putting Stuff in Your Junk Trunk Create a new Windows Azure Project called PutJunkInIt. (Click any screenshot for the full size, and also note some of the text may be off - I had to recreate a number of these images)

Windsor facility for Quartz.NET

Tue, 01 Feb 2011 03:19:12 GMT

Quartz is...

Gritty Technical Info on Windows Azure Worker Roles « Composite Code

Tue, 18 Jan 2011 15:06:26 GMT

In the last blog entry, "Gritty Technical Info on Windows Azure Web Roles", I covered the creation and startup of a web role within the Windows Azure Development Fabric and observing the web role with the Windows Azure Compute Emulator. In this blog entry I'll cover the worker role. Open the Windows Azure Web Role Sample Solution. Right click on the Windows Azure and select New Worker Role Project.

Gritty Technical Info on Windows Azure Web Roles « Composite Code

Fri, 14 Jan 2011 14:18:21 GMT

This is a follow up to the previous blog entry I wrote pertaining to Windows Azure Roles. I wanted to cover the bases on the various technical aspects of creating a Windows Azure Web Role & Worker Role in Visual Studio 2010. Without interruption let's just div...

Windows Azure Web, Worker, and CGI Roles - How They Work « Composite C

Thu, 13 Jan 2011 02:56:32 GMT

This is a write up I've put together of how the roles in Windows Azure work. As far as I know, this is all correct - but if there are any Windows Azure Team Members out there that wouldn't mind providing some feedback about specifics or adding to the details I have here - please do add comments! :) Windows 2008 and Hyper-V Windows Azure is built on top of Windows 2008 & Hyper-V. Hyper-V provides virtualization to the various instance types and allocation of resources to those instances. Windows 2008 provides the core operating system functionality for those systems and the Windows Azure Platform Roles and Storage. The hypervisor that a Hyper-V installation implements does a few unique things compared to many of the other virtualization offerings in the industry. Xen (The Open Source Virtualization Software that Amazon Web Services use) & VMWare both use a shared resource model for utilization of physical resources within a system. This allows for more virtualized instances to be started per physical machine, but can sometimes allow hardware contention. On the other hand Hyper-V pins a particular amount of resources to a virtualized instance, which decreases the number of instances allowed on a physical machine. This enables Hyper-V to prevent hardware contention though. Both designs have their plusses and minuses and in cloud computing these design choices are rarely evident. The context however is important to know when working with high end computing within the cloud. Windows Azure Fabric Controller The Windows Azure Fabric Controller is kind of the magic glue that holds all the pieces of Windows Azure together. The Azure Fabric Controller... (read more in full article)

My Current Windows Development Machine Software Stack « Composite Code

Mon, 06 Dec 2010 18:19:21 GMT

« Windows Azure SDK 1.3 Broken DeploymentsMy Current Windows Development Machine Software StackDecember 6, 2010 - 05:30Posted in Reviews, My UpdatesTagged tdd, saas, windows, windows azure, asp.net, visual studio 2010, software project, project management, aws, amazon web services, jquery, microsoft, expression blend, web services, sdk, software development, asp.net mvc, ec2, altnet, cloud storage, web role, git, development tools, software projects, software, framework, nhibernate, filezilla, virtualbox...

Windows Azure Table Storage Part 2 « Composite Code

Mon, 22 Nov 2010 16:43:12 GMT

In the first part of this two part series I reviewed what table storage in Windows Azure is. In addition I began a how-to for setting up an ASP.NET MVC 2 Web Application for accessing the Windows Azure Table Storage (sounds like keyword soup all of a sudden!). This sample so far is enough to run against the Windows Azure Dev Fabric. However I still need to setup t...

Windows Azure Table Storage Part 1 « Composite Code

Fri, 19 Nov 2010 15:46:35 GMT

**This is the first part of a two part series on building a basic working web app using ASP.NET MVC to create, update, delete, and access views of the data in a Windows Azure Table Storage Service. The second part will be published this next Monda...**

Project Review, What Would You Want To Know? « Composite Code

Fri, 12 Nov 2010 17:41:33 GMT

I've worked more than a few projects in my career. One thing that I always find sorely missing throughout many Enterprises is a follow up report of what went well and what went wrong on a project. In other words a list of successes and a list of things to improve. With that in mind I've put together the following survey questionnaire for the end of a project. What other items might you add that you'd want to know?

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Windows Azure

Tue, 19 Oct 2010 15:12:43 GMT

I got to mess around with the Windows Phone 7 SDK finally over the last few weeks (Twitter hashtags #wp7 and #wp7dev). The first few things I noticed was that there are a lot of missing parts to it. Namely the calen...

Monster Bits of WCF and Itty Bitty Bits of MVC « Composite Code

Wed, 13 Oct 2010 15:26:18 GMT

I've had the pleasure of working with WCF on three specific projects that have brought me to this blog entry. I haven't used WCF on only three projects, there are just three that have brought me to write this entry. I've used WCF a lot, since back when it was a beta. WCF is great when creating SOAP se...