React vs. Angular: A Comparison Between Two Great Options

Robert Rice Angular, Articles, Development Technologies & Tools, JavaScript, Opinion, React 2 Comments

Both React and Angular are very popular front end development frameworks. In this post, I will discuss the similarities and differences between the two, and consider when one should be used instead of the other.

React is an open-source JavaScript library introduced by Facebook to build dynamic user interfaces. It is based on JavaScript and JSX (a PHP extension) and is considered widely for developing reusable HTML elements for front-end development.

Angular is an open-source front-end development framework powered by Google. It is a part of the MEAN stack and is compatible with a large number of code editors and is considered for creating dynamic websites and web apps.

In this post, we will begin by going over the benefits of React and Angular, then break down the differences between the two frameworks using thirteen attributes. By comparing each framework side by side, it can help decide which is the best framework for your specific app project.

Elm Language

Lou Mauget Articles, Development Technologies & Tools, JavaScript, Programming, Single-Page Application Leave a Comment

This blog is about my dalliance with Elm; a purely functional, statically typed language that has type inference. It compiles to JavaScript. Functional programming is compelling, but heretofore, Iโ€™d only woven cherry-picked techniques into large object-oriented projects. In FP parlance, Iโ€™m partially applied! The times, they are a-changinโ€™.

In this article, Iโ€™ll:
– touch on the reasoning for giving a nod to functional languages and data immutability;
– move on to Elm; a blazing-fast, statically typed, purely functional browser-side language that compiles to JavaScript and follows the principles of functional reactive programming;
– survey background items and the Elm environment;
– show a simple type-and-click application, followed by a more realistic To-do application;
– end with my impressions from functional-programming semi-outsider point-of-view.

Building a Spring Cloud Native Microservice Application on Azure, Part 1

Zach Gardner Articles, Azure, Cloud, Development Technologies & Tools, Java, Microservices, Spring Leave a Comment

The big three cloud providers (AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, in that order) have their various strengths and areas of expertise. Most large organizations though typically pick one cloud provider for their cloud computing needs. This works well if youโ€™re a Java shop thatโ€™s on AWS, or a Microsoft shop on Azure. But what if youโ€™re on a large Java project in an organization that wants to use Azure? Youโ€™re in luck.

Microsoft Azure has come a long way, and is very supportive of non-Microsoft technologies. The proof though is in the pudding. Which is where this blog post comes in. I take Josh Longโ€™s Bootiful Microservice Services, a great starting point to get a cloud native Spring microservice application up and running, and show how it can be run on Azure.

This first blog post will be all about setting up our basic microservices by walking through the various parts of Joshโ€™s example application, with some best practices and patterns that Iโ€™ve found to be effective. Rather than a simplistic ToDo application, weโ€™ll be basing our application off of my favorite bagel shop in New York, Original Bagel Boss in Hicksville, to manage its orders, inventory, etc. If we can run a bagel shop on a Spring application running on Azure, and keep customers happy and full of carbohydrates, then it proves out for applications of a similar size and complexity.

Weโ€™ll be staying mostly inside the familiar Java confines, then slowly start working our way out to getting our application deployed to Azure. Then weโ€™ll start introducing additional complexity like Spring Batch jobs, a React front end, etc. A setup this complex will show that Azure is ready for prime time when it comes to running applications in production, even if they are built on non-Microsoft technologies…

Whatโ€™s On First: The Case For Accessibility-First Programming

Aaron Diffenderfer Articles, Development Technologies & Tools, Opinion, Programming Leave a Comment

When you think of common programming techniques and processes, what comes to mind first? Perhaps it’s test-driven development, writing an automated test to start your development cycle and putting testing at the forefront instead of the typical afterthought. Or maybe you thought of behavior driven development with stakeholders collaborating and defining the software behavior upfront thus mitigating the ambiguities from some requirements. But what if I told you that while testing and behavior are important, accessibility should be one of the first development considerations?

Maybe the whole concept of accessibility is nothing new to you, and you’re already accounting for it in all aspects of the development process. But, if you’re like most developers (myself occasionally included), accessibility along with unit testing are the two things you often save to the very, very, very end, or perhaps you save them for the newbies to worry about in a future sprint โ€“ neither of which is ideal. While it may not be quite as important in some industries as it is in others like government (where Section 508 is federal law regarding accessibility), addressing it should be in the forefront of your thought process, your code, and your testing.

Quick Start: AWS SQS + Spring Boot Processing FIFO Queues

Brandon Klimek Articles, AWS, Cloud, Development Technologies & Tools, Microservices, Spring, Spring Boot Leave a Comment

AWS SQS (Simple Queue Service) can provide developers with flexibility and scalability when building microservice application(s). In this quick start tutorial, we will demonstrate how to configure a FIFO queue for a fictional online marketplace.

What Is A FIFO Queue?

A FIFO (first in, first out) queue is used when the order of items or events is critical, or where duplicates items in the queue are not permitted. For example:

– Prevent a user from buying an item that isn’t available on a marketplace.