This week I’m doing the obligatory post about the tools that I use to program. Let’s start out with the tools I use: Sublime Text Linux Virtual Machine Git rvm With those, I can conquer anything thrown my way. I’m a recent convert to Sublime Text [https://www.sublimetext.com/]. Before that, I mainly used Notepad++. I love it’s speed mainly. Using Notepad++ with a lot of files in a project causes it to move deathly slow....
Boy, this one is late. I blame moving. Hilary and I finally got the keys to our new place and have started moving in. Last time I wrote about programming, I discussed APIs. In this post, I want to continue in the same theme and discuss implementing an API in a Rails application. Rails has a great, simple way to output standard JSON instead of an HTML document. class FlashcardsController < ApplicationController def index render json: Deck....
I was planning on writing another post about creating an API but I’m exhausted. This weekend Hilary and I moved our worldly possesions into some U-Haul U-Boxes [http://www.uhaul.com/UBox/]. We finished moving out of our apartment today and as of 2pm, we’re officially homeless for a week until our new townhome is available. With all this flurry of activity, I just don’t have it in me to write a blog post about how to create an API for a website using the Grape gem....
Part 1 in my series on creating an API in Rails. Here’s part 2 [/52in52/api/2015/04/01/using-grape-api/]. This week, I have been working hard to add an API to a website that I wrote. I’m going to explain what an API is and why I want one for this website. When you visit a website, your browser uses a protocol called HTTP. HTTP is made up of verbs that describe interactions with the server....
Life Is getting busy for me. In about two weeks my wife, Hilary, and I will be moving. In addition to that, I have an astronomy class that just finished and a discrete math class that starts on Monday. I also have a busy schedule when I’m at work. This isn’t the first time that I have found the pace of life picking up. I have found that when I get stressed out about having a lot on my plate, the best thing I can do is control what I can and try to not let the rest bother me....
I have had a lot of problems with starting projects and not following through. It took me about a year to work through the Ruby koans official site [http://rubykoans.com/]|my code [https://github.com/magikid/my-ruby-koans]. And they were simple programming exercises designed to introduce you to the language. I say no more. This is the year that I stop starting without finishing, at least where programming is involved. I have recently started a new project that I intend to be a sort-of showcase for my website building skills....
I was listening to Developer Tea [http://www.developertea.com/] yesterday and they were discussing the merits of having a personal blog and marketing yourself as a developer. I set this blog up last fall as a spot for me to journal. I think rather than using it as a journal, I will try to discuss mainly programming related topics from now on. I will be discussing projects that I’m working on and new techniques that I’m learning....
One of our cats, Leon, stopped eating this weekend. He has been eating noticibly less for the past month or two and has gone from 15lbs to 9lbs. I took him to the vet on Monday. After blood work and x-rays, he has feline diabetes. I didn’t realize that cats could get diabetes but I guess anything with a pancreas can. That means a significant change in his (and our) life with cats....
Day 16: Imagine that someone has decided to write a book about your life, just up to this point. What would the cover blurb say? Be honest here. Is it kind of boring? Are you happy with it? Now imagine what you’d like that blurb to say at the end of your life. What changes need to made for that to happen? This prompt seems to think that up until this point in my life, I have done nothing interesting or noteworthy....
Day 15: Come up with your own Cabinet of Invisible Counselors. There are innumerable great men from history who we can learn from today. When thinking about your life or pondering some question or problem, yes, go to actual mentors and friends, but also take in the advice of men of yore. Write out who you would have on your list and what you admire about them. Having trouble coming up with a list?...