Systems Development on Kind of Idea

Learning to Program in Go

Sun, 06 Dec 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Below is a set of links for anyone who wants to begin the journey and learn to program in this interesting programming language, created in 2009 inside Google:

Main site

A Tour of the Go Language

https://go-tour-br.appspot.com/welcome/1

How to Write Go Code

Effective Go

https://golang.org/doc/effective_go.html

Structuring Applications in Go

https://medium.com/@benbjohnson/structuring-applications-in-go-3b04be4ff091

7 Common Go Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQ6-HyPxHKg

Tips from Experienced Developers for Those Starting with Go

Best practices for a beginner Go developer:

Git for IT Managers: The Commands Used 90% of the Time

Fri, 31 Oct 2014 00:00:00 +0000

IT managers have to deal extensively with strategic matters, but it is always important to have some knowledge of code, and this step-by-step guide shows how Git is used 90% of the time. This example simulates using the C# language with Visual Studio. However, the following process applies to any other programming language.

Getting Started with Git

Install Git on the machine, selecting the second configuration option in the Git download
Open a DOS command prompt
Configure the name: git config user.name “UserName”
Configure the email: git config user.email “username@rn.gov.br”
Clone the project: git clone url.git
Enter the cloned system’s folder: cd pasta_do_sistema
Create the dev branch: git branch dev
Switch to the dev branch: git checkout dev
Download dev from the server into local dev: git pull origin dev

From here, you can open the project in Visual Studio and run it.

Follow the Seesaw Style

Mon, 08 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0000

With the DDD method, I developed a strategic vision focused on decentralization through automation. But I needed to give the team a simple way to handle day-to-day tasks—in other words, a tactical approach. That’s how I came up with the seesaw style.

Seesaw style means continuous effort distributed proportionally among everyone involved in a project.

This way, tasks simply flow and no one gets overloaded.

I use this term because this way of handling a project resembles playing on a seesaw.

How to Choose a Name for an Event Website

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Note: Although I focus on event websites, these tips also apply to websites in general.

Choosing a name for an event website often raises questions about what the best option might be. To make this easier, follow this outline:

Whenever possible, use one or two full words.
If possible, avoid abbreviations.
Avoid numbers in the name (such as the event edition number) at all costs.

Understand the relative importance of the points above: prioritize the full name, written out. If using an abbreviation is unavoidable, that’s fine—use it, but avoid adding numbers to the name.

Follow the DDD Method

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

The world of computing, and software development in particular, is very complex. I was looking for a simpler way to explain my way of working to anyone who came to visit me. That’s how I came up with DDD, which you can see in the image below:

Decentralize: Create infrastructure that allows people to do what needs to be done, whether or not you are there.

Delegate: Train people and trust the work of those who will take over.

Web Usability: Input Masks in Forms

Thu, 03 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000

The example I’m going to show you is a form for looking up institutional records. It requires the user to enter either the interested party’s CPF or CNPJ. The images below show how the interface evolved. The goal is to make it simpler for the end user.

In image 01, we see the initial idea: let the user enter either a CPF or CNPJ number in a single field.

Ruby and Education: A Match Made in Heaven (translation)

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0000

It's important not to generalize about Ruby as if it could solve all your problems. It is a general-purpose language, but, like all other languages, it will be suitable in some contexts and not in others. The purpose of this post by Kate Cunningham, which I translated, is to show that Ruby's characteristics are very much in harmony with the characteristics needed in an effective learning environment. This doesn't mean that students should stop at Ruby. Ruby will make the path into programming easier for them, but it is only a first step. They should learn other languages too, since that's the only way to grow as a professional in such a dynamic field. You can find the original here. And now, the translation:

The Ruby language has received a lot of attention over the past decade, especially since the advent of Ruby on Rails in 2005. While the blogosphere has been using Ruby for a long time, let’s ask how, exactly, Ruby is suited to an educational environment.

Learn BDD by Playing Dice — eBook

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Hello, Ruby enthusiast! Hello, BDD enthusiast! I invite you to read, download, modify, clone, or do whatever you like with the book Learn BDD by Playing Dice!

This mini-book is a journey, line by line and test by test, using the Behavior-Driven Development technique on a very interesting project: simulating the dice in the game War!

I wrote this little book to learn BDD and RSpec, so I needed to cover something simple and, preferably, fun. Then I thought: Why not roll some dice? Why not roll the dice from the game War? So here it is: Learn BDD by Playing Dice!

Learn BDD by Playing Dice — eBook

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Hello, Ruby enthusiast! Hello, BDD enthusiast! Welcome to this journey, line by line and test by test, using the Behavior-Driven Development technique on an interesting project: a War dice simulation!

I wrote this tiny book to learn BDD and RSpec myself. I wanted to start with a small example, and, if possible, a fun one too. Then I thought: Why not roll some dice? Why not roll the dice from the game War? And here you are: learning BDD by playing dice!

Web Accessibility — Thesis

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0000

My 2008 specialization thesis was about Web Accessibility.

I was greatly inspired by the work of the Acesso Digital team, which some time ago popularized the slogan “Real Accessibility”, the combination of accessibility, web standards, and usability.

In the thesis, I expand on that idea by developing the following teaching formula:

Resources = (Information Architecture + Web Standards + Accessibility + Usability + Keeping Up with Trends)

Real Accessibility = Resources + User Focus + Common Sense

Functional Programming and Loops (translation)

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0000

People who come from languages like C, Java, Delphi, and C#, and use Ruby for the first time, tend to program in Ruby the same way they programmed in the language they already know well. As you read the post below, you'll see that languages with functional features, such as Ruby, offer their own ways of organizing code (the Ruby way). More specifically, in this article by Jon Dahl, you'll see more efficient ways to iterate (loop) in Ruby. You can find the original here. And now, the translation:

If you’re a programmer, you’ve probably worked through one or more books that taught you the syntax of a new language. I’ve had that experience with half a dozen languages, such as C, JavaScript, and Perl.

Updating the TinyMCE Editor

Wed, 12 May 2010 00:00:00 +0000

The TinyMCE is the WYSIWYG HTML editor I use in my applications. Its purpose is to replace textarea fields with an editor that offers a variety of features. You can get an idea of its capabilities from the size of the toolbar below:

There are 94 buttons in total. In one of my applications, I used 41 of these buttons. While updating, I decided to trim down the number of buttons, since it is easy to see that most of them are rarely used. After briefly reviewing the features, I reconfigured the toolbar as follows:

Introduction to the Assembly Language

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000

For people who are not in computing, and even for programmers who have always worked with high-level languages, this article is very enlightening. It helps us become aware of and appreciate the effort made by the first programmers and designers to get us to where we are today. Read the original article at this link. Here is the translation:

This is a brief introduction to Assembly language. Assembly is the most basic programming language available for any processor. With Assembly language, a programmer works only with operations performed directly on the physical CPU. Assembly lacks high-level conveniences such as variables and functions, and it is not portable across different processor families. However, Assembly is the most powerful programming language available on a computer, and it gives programmers the insight they need to write efficient code in high-level languages. Learning Assembly is a way to appreciate the time and effort of all serious programmers.

fupload - A Visual FoxPro Script for Uploading Files

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0000

fupload is a script written in Visual FoxPro. I created fupload to make it easier to upload large numbers of PDF and ZIP files at work. It was built on the principle of “scratching your own itch.”

Since I wanted to learn how to use git and github, I decided to organize the code better and make it available as open source. This script was made for the Windows platform. Visual FoxPro must be installed on the machine. To complement the script, I use a .bat file to send the files to the server.

Tutorial: Git for Designers

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Hi, everyone.

I’d already given an overview of the Git workflow in the translated article Introduction to Git for Designers, written by an American designer.

To continue learning Git, I thought it would be interesting to translate a tutorial that was simple, and I ended up choosing this one:

Tutorial: Git for Designers

Along with the translation, I added some notes to make learning as intuitive as possible.

My goals with these translations are:

Accessing Twitter via the Interactive Ruby Shell (irb)

Sun, 14 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0000

I was looking for a simple Ruby solution for updating messages through irb. I found these Ruby class options:

Twitter by John Nunemaker — this is the most complete one.
Twittery, a very simple class that uploads photos through the TwitPic API. The project is maintained by Chris Ledet.

I used the class from the Twittery project as a learning starting point because I wanted a quick and simple solution, even though it doesn’t have the security of the OAuth authentication protocol already included in John Nunemaker’s project.

Ruby + irb + utility-belt + gedit = :)

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0000

In September 2008, Akita wrote an interesting post about utility-belt, a gem that adds several features to irb (it’s a bit like giving irb a Red Bull). Some of its features include:

Launching Vi or TextMate from irb, letting you quickly write or paste some code, save it, close the editor, and test it in irb without creating a file and saving it in a directory.
Viewing a command history by typing “h”.
Opening the history in TextMate or Vi using hvi or hmate.
Watch Akita’s screencast to see how it works.

So far, so good. But the big problem is that I use Ubuntu with gedit to write Ruby code, and utility-belt doesn’t have specific methods for launching gedit. The utility-belt help offers edit_interactively(:gedit), but of course I couldn’t settle for that method; I wanted it to work the same way as it does with Vi or TextMate.

An Introduction to Git for Designers

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Since the vast majority of articles, tutorials, and comments about Git are written by and for programmers (I fit that profile), I thought it would be interesting to translate this text by designer Mindy Wagner. The post gives a simple overview of Git. It's great for introducing designers and even developers who don't yet use version control systems. Escape the chaos—use Git! Here's the translation:

Unless you have a one-person web shop with no team to collaborate with, you’re experiencing the frustration that comes with sharing files. No matter how hard you try, when several people work on a single project without a version control system, things become chaotic.

Tables on the Web Should Be Super Lean!

Thu, 28 May 2009 00:00:00 +0000

I know! The days of nested tables for creating layouts are long gone. Thank goodness! But we also need to be careful with the tabular information we publish on the web, whether it’s database queries, data stored in spreadsheets, or a simple table an office secretary created in a word processor (BrOffice or Word).

Here’s a scenario: you’ve just received a spreadsheet (Excel or Calc) with the table below, and you need to put it on a web page as quickly as possible. The following fictional image shows an event schedule in the form of a monthly calendar table. Since it needs to be published immediately, your first thought is to use Excel’s Save as HTML option. That’s very inappropriate, though, because it generates a file with an absurd 311 lines of code. If we look at the code, we’ll see that most of it is unnecessary. In part two of this post, we’ll see how to eliminate all that unnecessary code with as little effort as possible.

How to change the DOS font to Monaco

Tue, 26 May 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Hi everyone!

In this post, you’ll see how to change the font used by the Windows XP console (CMD.exe), which uses Lucida Console by default, to something more pleasant and attractive. First, take a look at the command prompt with its default font:

Before we continue, it’s important to know that a font used in the console (command prompt, shell) must meet the same requirements as a font used for programming:

How to Become a Famous Rails Developer (Translation)

Mon, 11 May 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Note: Besides being inspiring, this post is very enlightening. It reminds us to put our feet back where they belong: on the ground. It also shows that we can accomplish many great things by making the right choices and doing the one beneficial, sustainable thing in the programming world: reading, writing, and sharing code. If any part of the translation could be improved, feel free to suggest a change. You can find the original text here. And now, here's the translated text:

Hi everyone, I’m Chris Wanstrath, and I’m going to teach you how to become a famous Rails developer. A Ruby rock star. A programming ninja. It’s not hard: just focus like a laser and have a little patience.

Scratch: The Simplest Programming Language I’ve Ever Seen!

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 00:00:00 +0000

I have to admit that the last time I was this impressed by software was when Google Earth launched. :-P

For a while now, I have been looking for a way to teach programming to children or to people who have never programmed before. I recently wrote a post presenting Ruby as a strong candidate because of its simplicity, and even suggested it as a possibility for university courses. But it is still complex, because programming requires understanding several concepts: variables, constants, loops, branches, and others. Beginners also generally have trouble with typing code.

Image Optimization with IrfanView

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 00:00:00 +0000

A good friend from work, Dudulho, gave me this tip. I just refined it a little to improve the result. My problem was that I had 20 images scanned from a workbook and wanted to create a final PDF document combining them all.

Each image was about 1.5 MB on average, which would have produced an impractical file of approximately 30 MB. So I had to do something to reduce the image sizes.

How the Ruby Language Can Help Captain Morrimento

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Hi, everyone. I previously wrote a comparison of Ruby and Pascal, and now I have received a request to help Captain Morrimento select his recruits using software.

The problem is that Captain Morrimento had to go on leave from his battalion, but still wanted to make sure his team stayed in line and keep an eye on the recruits so they would not cause trouble later.

To make matters worse, I discovered that Captain Morrimento is very short-tempered and does not want to waste time with a complex interface. He knows how to use basic office software (just a text editor). So he wants something that comes as close as possible to copying the recruits’ records from his PC and pasting them into a field that checks and diagnoses the recruit.

Web Standards and the Importance of Semantic Markup

Fri, 23 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

In this first post about web standards, I’d like to discuss a topic that may seem overdone and has been discussed extensively. Unfortunately, some developers do not follow the principles, perhaps out of convenience or lack of knowledge. So I will try to help at least some of them see the light.

I’ll start with two basic concepts, according to Jeffrey Zeldman:

Valid Markup: markup that contains no errors (for example, forgetting to close tags) and no illegal tags or attributes (for example, using the height attribute on tables, which is not allowed).

Ruby as a First Programming Language!

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Yes, this may sound a little strange to some people, especially the more traditional ones, but that is what I am proposing in this post.

My first experience with a programming language was in 1997, with Pascal, a language created in 1970 by Niklaus Wirth, whose main goal was to encourage the use of structured code, especially for teaching.

Here is a small example of a logical test in Pascal:

    program Testelogico;
       
    var a,b:integer;

    uses crt;

    begin
     clrscr;
     writeln ('Digite um número para A');
     readln (a);
     writeln ('Digite o número para B');
     readln (b);
    
     if (a = b) then
        writeln ('A é igual a B')
     else
        if (a &lt; b) then
              writeln ('B é maior que A')
        else
              writeln ('A é maior que B');
    end.

We can see that this code requires learning several concepts related to the language’s structure itself instead of focusing on the problem. For example, it requires parentheses and a semicolon at the end of a block, as well as the classic rule that you do not put a semicolon before else, because the semicolon is used to end programming blocks.

Extreme Programming and Collective Intelligence

Sun, 05 Aug 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Welcome to the third edition of “Think about it!”

The July 2007 issue of National Geographic Brasil featured an article about Collective Intelligence. It discussed the behavior of birds, bees, ants, and fish, which was being studied and applied in the workplace, at airports, and on the internet. I would add that it can also be applied to software development to make processes easier and more efficient.

An ant colony can solve problems that are impossible for any individual ant, such as finding the shortest path to the best food source. Individually, they may be stupid; collectively, they are agile and efficient. This phenomenon is called “swarm intelligence.”

Windows vs. Linux, or Spielberg vs. Chávez?

Sun, 05 Aug 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Welcome, everyone, to the second episode of the “Think about it!” series.

For several years I have been following discussions about which operating system to use. In this post, I will try to offer a different point of view that might serve as a reference for IT managers making decisions. My only goal, though, is to encourage discussion and reflection.

Before getting to the topic, take a look at the image below:

Extreme Programming Is Definitely Not a Hack!

Thu, 02 Aug 2007 00:00:00 +0000

In this first installment of “Think about it,” I’ll tell you about something that happened to me as I was leaving my postgraduate course. I got a ride, and in the car a few students and professors continued discussing software best practices and RUP, which had been a subtopic in a software engineering talk. But without any technical arguments, they simply equated XP (Extreme Programming) with a hack, and even mentioned POG (programming-oriented-gambiarra).

In Search of Simplicity

Thu, 07 Dec 2006 00:00:00 +0000

Hi, my name is Valério Farias. I have worked in web development since 2003, and I’d like to tell you a little about my story.

I started out with table-based layouts, using WYSIWYG editors. I thought they were simple because I didn’t have to get lost among the countless trs and tds. But one day I needed to put a large report, which was in spreadsheet format, into HTML. With my naïve idea of simplicity, I exported it straight to HTML—a kind of spreadsheet CASE tool. The result was a page that was extremely slow and impossible for a human being to view. I was discouraged and puzzled, so I faced the beast. I combed through the code and was shocked by the amount of repetitive formatting it contained. I cleaned it all up, leaving only the necessary code, until, to my relief, I was able to publish the file on the web. That was my first major challenge, and I came away with the lesson that it is important to clean under the rug, too.