jameswburnshttps://jameswburns.com
Tech stuff related to making games
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Technology Radarhttps://jameswburns.com/2016/11/29/technology-radar/
https://jameswburns.com/2016/11/29/technology-radar/#respondTue, 29 Nov 2016 00:45:40 +0000http://jameswburns.com/?p=143Do you find yourself seeing lots of new technology getting released? Do you wonder if you should learn it? Do you worry about too many new things getting released and wanting to keep abreast and up to date with it all?

I have found a solution for you! The solution that will help you is a Technology Radar.
I first saw a technology radar at my previous employer, used by the Tools team. My first impression was clarity; I was able to see what was going on at first sight. Now I did not fully grasp the usefulness of this methodology until more recently when I started encountering lots of new technology professionally and personally. How could I mentally keep all this knowledge and not drive myself crazy!

My first investigation took me to a blog post by Neal Ford (Build Your Own Technology Radar). Definitely worth a read, and a much more rounded explanation of the origin. Neal works for ThoughtWorks a technology company that advises on the future of development (ThoughtWorks)

So how can you create your own technology radar? You can old school and write it down on paper, or on a whiteboard. Or you can generate a webpage for yourself where you can maintain a digital copy easily. There are many examples on Github (here, here and here) which effectively are differences on presentation.

Once I get my version completed, I will get it up on the site to show what areas of technology and development I have on my radar.

]]>https://jameswburns.com/2016/11/29/technology-radar/feed/0screen-shot-2016-11-29-at-00-35-39mrjameswburnsDeveloping on Windowshttps://jameswburns.com/2015/12/14/developing-on-windows/
https://jameswburns.com/2015/12/14/developing-on-windows/#respondMon, 14 Dec 2015 19:30:11 +0000http://mrjamesburnsblog.wordpress.com/?p=53For a bit of parity and an alternative to my view on Developing on a Mac, it’s time to share my experience of Windows.

A bit of prior history; I started on Sinclair Spectrum 48k, then BBC Micro and Acorn Archimedes. It was the Archimedes that I first experienced WIMP desktops. So when I first started using a PC, Windows 3.1 was the flavour of OS at the time. Since then, Windows has changed dramatically!

The OS has changed extensively over the years and now we have Windows 10. I have this OS version at home. But Windows 7 is still the one supported at the corporate level.

I do not consider myself a power user on a Windows OS. Simplistic Command Line batch files are all I ever do. I tend to get some form of Linux variation to work, such as Cygwin or Node command line due to my familiarity with Linux.

Microsoft Visual Studio – This series of IDE’s is where the majority of native Windows developers spend their time. Other editors are available. The latest version is Visual Studio 2015. It seems that VS gets an update every year now. One of the big changes I have seen is the integration of Git. Coming from many years of Perforce, I was used to a series of integrations that evolved and improved. Then VS 2105, bam, Git and it works. (There are caveats to it working, especially from a security point of view; see this blog post).

Security – Microsoft made huge efforts to change the mindset of a platform that was weak to security. A natural situation at the time for one of the most prevalent OSes in the world, in the hands of the general consumers. This has included revised user account security (annoyingly, but can be reduced) and the inclusion of security software, such as Windows Defender. There is also the bane of many developers known as Windows Firewall. Some security is better than none, and it will always be a moving target. Microsoft also have their own guide to software development security in Security Development Lifecycle. From my point of view, these are good examples of where Microsoft are making strides towards secure software. It is not to say others are not, but this is a huge direction for Microsoft.

If I had been writing a post on the benefits and advantages of Windows about 2 years ago, it would have been a lot more one sided in favour of Windows compared to Mac. Lesson to learn here, there is always another side to the story. A little more brushed aluminium hardware helps.

I expect to add more platform related thoughts, so watch this space.

]]>https://jameswburns.com/2015/12/14/developing-on-windows/feed/013efc8aa-1cda-4809-8bf3-37fd9f1b9a95_16mrjameswburnsDeveloping on a Machttps://jameswburns.com/2015/12/05/developing-on-a-mac/
https://jameswburns.com/2015/12/05/developing-on-a-mac/#commentsSat, 05 Dec 2015 14:30:42 +0000http://mrjamesburnsblog.wordpress.com/?p=22If you had said to me 5 years ago that I would enjoy using and developing on a Mac, I might have been quite rude in reply. However, over the last couple of years owning an iMac and having the privilege of a Mac Book Pro at work, I can safely say that the experience is very good.

Desktop – OS X has helped me overcome my OCD in using fully maximised application windows. I was able to throw random sized applications everywhere on the desktop and not flinch. There is a caveat, my work PC and home PC both have 4K monitors, so screen snap is heavily in use with that amount of real estate.

Command line – A bash terminal is a connection for me to the early days when I started professional development. Make files, vi, ls -al and so many other capabilities at my finger tips. It feels familiar. It also feels intimately more powerful than a Windows Command Line interface. That is just a subjective statement that could be more to do with how both look. However, it is what I like.

Package installer #1 – Brew (also known as Homebrew) is something I wish I had available to me in the days of using RedHat Linux about 14 years ago. Back then I had fun with RPM and tar-balls. It is so simple to add capabilities, programs, scripts, APIs, libraries from the command line.

brew install <the thing you want>

That is all there is to it. Go read the page linked, it is only one page for the simple basics.

Package installer #2 – So given my above love for brew, you would quite rightly ask/state/argue; “what about Node/NPM?” well, my answer would be “it’s great, but it’s equally as great on Windows”. And I do use it on both platforms. Also forgive the undersell of referring to it as a package installer, Node does bring a lot more to the development table. Let me just defend this as, I have yet to scratch the surface, which I intend to do.

Display – There is something about the quality of the display panel that just gives a Mac that high quality finish. Especially with my significant PC background, investing in a serious good shiny monitor has never been on the shopping list, let alone investing in it.

So those are a few high level thoughts on what I have experienced moving over to Apple Mac.

I’m a software developer by profession and I dabble in development when at home. Here is where I want to document the meandering bits of development I intend to get involved in. Ironically there is no structure, just ramblings, but it will be documented.

What can you expect? If you’re not a developer of Agile (in any shape or form, I’m looking at you ‘Scrum-but’) or have never heard of ‘stand-ups’ then it might be like that; what I’ve done today, what I intend to do next and what is holding me up. I can even see me dropping links to other interesting sites, articles, commentary, etc. that I am exposed to each day related to software development.

I intend to share bits of code I have written, hosted in whatever source hosting I appear to be using at the time (right now that is GitHub) and I embrace any commentary relative to the subject material.

So to kick off, I’ll throw out what I’ve been doing today.

Today, I’ve been looking at an AngularJS tutorial: Angular JS Codeschool
It looks exceptionally straightforward so far. I’ve yet to do anything, as I ended up setting up and writing this blog piece. So from my point of view, I’ve found it, I’ll complete it, I’ll learn. That is my next ‘thing’ to do.

C++ is my normal language to work with, but I do not have any immediate plans to do anything there, however, I reserve the right to change my mind next week. I probably will.

It seems blogs are coming back, people starting them or other people inspired by old ones. So this one popping up looks promising: https://gamedevdaily.io/