Paranoid Engineering

A tool for unpacking multiple archives and other ramblings

2009-06-17T22:14:00.001+03:00

I've always wondered why torrents are packed into multiple archives, sometimes even archives inside other archives. Anyway, I've got fed up with all the unpacking routines, especially after downloading several seasons of something that has each episode in an individual folder containing 20 rar or zip files. So, after one evening of coding this nightmare is now over.

Here is the screenshot of the stupidly named tool (click to visit project page):

It was also a good reason to try out new version of NetBeans. I still hate GUI builders, however for small "write and forget" kind of projects like Multi Unpacker it's a fairly good choice. However NetBeans is still slow and unresponsive in comparison with Eclipse.

So far Multi Unpacker is for Windows only, however it's a spare evening away from becoming cross-platform (and you are welcome to join the project). Too bad my MacBook broke down completely, so Macs will most probably not get any special treatment... This is also bad news for Hawkscope, unless someone is willing to donate me an old Mac? :)

Things you can do in weekend

2009-06-14T12:02:00.002+03:00

You can take a trip to nature, you can visit your friends. You can also cowboy-code a small game.

Cheatsheet: Unicode characters for buttons and GUI elements

2009-06-07T20:50:00.000+03:00

Before drawing your own graphics for various GUI buttons, you could try finding a Unicode character that represents the thing you want to do. For instance, up/down arrows can be made with 25B2 (▲) and 25BC (▼).

Here are some pictures with Unicode characters that you can use to build GUIs. First a quick guide to using these:

Now, the cheatsheets:

These were captured from a tool named Korais.

You can download these images in a single PDF file: unicode.gui.cheatsheet.pdf

Symbolic links in Windows

2009-04-27T21:21:00.006+03:00

Surprisingly, all the good Windows features are hidden, undocumented and hard to find. It took me nearly a decade to accidentally find out that Windows has symbolic links. They are called NTFS Junction Points. However their support is limited to directory links, and the usage is a bit weird.

Oh, and you have to install Windows Resource Kit to get the functionality. You can download it from any of these locations:

The command you want is linkd. Let's take it for a spin.

The sandbox contains a directory named original with text.txt inside.

To create a symbolic link named symlinked that points to original, the command is linkd symlinked original. In POSIX it would be ln -s original symlinked.

When calling dir, symlinked shows as "junction". The other behavior is like a plain folder. In explorer you cannot tell the difference between the two.

To delete the symlink use rmdir, because del will attempt to remove the files from original directory.

Oracle buys Sun

2009-04-20T19:07:00.004+03:00

For a moment I thought this was a late April 1 joke, but obviously it's not. Oracle is buying Sun. It should have been IBM... The worst case of this impact is that Java is doomed to become an enterprise drone database integration language and MySQL is... Well... Simply F*cked.

Hopefully Oracle will keep their hands away from core Java (SE) and the JVM, otherwise it will be time to change camps.

Gmail4J - Gmail API for Java

2009-03-21T22:26:00.012+02:00

Seems that Google has no Gmail API available, so I made a small Java library called Gmail4J. The library is designed to be extensible, allowing various implementations. Currently the only available implementation allows getting new unread messages from their RSS feed. That's not much, but it's a start.

Here is the example code (updated to conform with Gmail4J 0.2):

GmailClient client = new RssGmailClient();
GmailConnection connection = new HttpGmailConnection("user", "pass".toCharArray());
client.setConnection(connection);
final List<GmailMessage> messages = client.getUnreadMessages();
for (GmailMessage message : messages) {
    System.out.println(message);
}

Next implementation will probably be based on JavaMail IMAP functionality. It should be able to do more than getting unread messages.

JAD Java Decompiler download mirror

2009-03-15T20:44:00.004+02:00

As http://www.kpdus.com is no longer accessible, JAD Java Decompiler download is extremely hard to find. I've put up a mirror where you can get jad executable for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X: http://www.varaneckas.com/jad

Hope this helps those who are having a hard time finding a working JAD download.

My little anniversary

2009-03-05T06:06:00.009+02:00

It has been one year since I've quit smoking. Even though it's not my first attempt it's hopefully the last one.

I used to smoke up to 20-30 cigarettes a day, I used to have a constant cough all the time at all seasons, telling myself "that's just a little cold". Now it's all gone. I feel great, I can run much longer distances than I could before, and of course, I save a nice piece of money on what I've used to spend. Meanwhile cigarette prices have increased, and they are about to increase again.

This quitting was probably one of the most significant things I did for my own good. How did I do that? Very simple:

Cold turkey - quit right now, throw away all smoking attributes with no remorse.
Avoid the "I feel so sorry for my poor self" sessions.

The motivating factor was this little book. It uplifted me and gave the needed strength to do it.

Like in object oriented programming, it's better to have less dependencies on anything.

Hawkscope: Twitter plugin

2009-02-28T15:38:00.002+02:00

The new release of Hawkscope has a Twitter plugin. Here's how you can install and use it:

Installing

First, go to Hawkscope Settings

Then go to Plugins tab and click Get Plugins

Hawkscope Plugins page will open in your Browser, click on twitter-1.0.jar to download it

Go to your download folder to find the plugin

Then go back to Hawkscope Settings Plugins tab and click Open in Plugin Location

A new Finder (or another file navigator) window will open. You will have to drag and drop twitter-1.0.jar from your downloads to Hawkscope plugins folder

Then, in Hawkscope Settings Plugins tab click Reload Plugins. You should see Twitter plugin in Available Plugins list

Close Hawkscope Settings window (click OK). Then if you open Hawkscope menu you will see a sad Twitter item. It's sad because there is no configuration.

Configuring

Go to Settings again. Your settings now has a Twitter tab

Enter your Twitter username and password. You can choose what elements to display. I chose not to see my own tweets. Click OK to apply your settings.

Your Twitter Hawkscope menu item is now enabled

Using

Click Tweet! to add a new Twitter status message

And you can also see more tweets or visit them in browser by clicking

Enjoy! And by the way, this plugin works on all operating systems that Hawkscope supports - Windows, Linux (Gnome) and Mac.

Screw all GUI builders

2009-02-13T13:05:00.008+02:00

Are you making your GUI with a builder? Do you like the generated code you get? I hate it. Even though I like the idea of building GUI with visual means (WYSIWYG), I can't stand the mess that code generators produce. In addition to that, there are more serious downsides:

You don't know how exactly the generated code works. You don't need to. You start not to care and GUI application development becomes a process of drawing and adding simple event handlers here and there.

Most GUI builders force you to use single class for single window, so generated classes tend to have thousands of lines of code.

Most GUI builders don't want you to modify the generated code. And if you do, they either break or rewrite your code.

GUI builders force you to use an IDE, mostly one you started coding with. So if you start with NetBeans, you most likely be forced to stay with it for the whole project.

The generated code is far from being optimal. It's not resize-friendly, not dynamic enough, it has many hard-coded values, refactoring is most likely impossible, because builder would not allow that.

So, why are you using GUI builders? Is it because you're doing GUI apps during your day job, you need fast results and you don't want to learn more than you have to? Or you just have no choice? That's reasonable, but when you have a choice, consider learning how Swing or SWT works, spend some time reading the API docs and examining the code - it's amazing how fast and dynamic your GUI building process can get when you finally get a clear understanding HOW to use all the widgets and layouts. Let me show you. Here's a window from Hawkscope app that I'm making in my spare time. It was generated with Jigloo GUI builder in Eclipse. First let's see how it looks:

The code (all comments removed):

package com.varaneckas.hawkscope.gui;

import org.eclipse.swt.SWT;
import org.eclipse.swt.events.MouseAdapter;
import org.eclipse.swt.events.MouseEvent;
import org.eclipse.swt.events.PaintEvent;
import org.eclipse.swt.events.PaintListener;
import org.eclipse.swt.events.SelectionAdapter;
import org.eclipse.swt.events.SelectionEvent;
import org.eclipse.swt.graphics.Color;
import org.eclipse.swt.graphics.Cursor;
import org.eclipse.swt.layout.FormAttachment;
import org.eclipse.swt.layout.FormData;
import org.eclipse.swt.layout.FormLayout;
import org.eclipse.swt.program.Program;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Button;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Canvas;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Display;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Label;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Shell;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Text;

import com.cloudgarden.resource.SWTResourceManager;
import com.varaneckas.hawkscope.Version;
import com.varaneckas.hawkscope.cfg.ConfigurationFactory;
import com.varaneckas.hawkscope.util.IOUtils;
import com.varaneckas.hawkscope.util.IconFactory;
import com.varaneckas.hawkscope.util.OSUtils;

public class AboutWindow extends org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Dialog {
    
    private Shell dialogShell;
    private Canvas logoCanvas;
    private Label appNameLabel;
    private Label appSloganLabel;
    private Label appVersion;
    private Label appHomepageValue;
    private Button copyReportButton;
    private Button closeButton;
    private Label environmentLabel;
    private Text environmentTextArea;
    private Label appHomepageLabel;
    private Label appReleasedValue;
    private Label appReleasedLabel;
    private Label appVersionValue;

    public AboutWindow(final Shell parent, final int style) {
        super(parent, style);
    }

    public synchronized void open() {
        if (dialogShell != null && !dialogShell.isDisposed()) {
            dialogShell.setVisible(true);
            dialogShell.forceFocus();
            return;
        }
        final Shell parent = getParent();
        dialogShell = new Shell(parent, SWT.DIALOG_TRIM 
                | SWT.APPLICATION_MODAL);
        {
            SWTResourceManager.registerResourceUser(dialogShell);
        }
        dialogShell.setImage(IconFactory.getInstance()
                .getUncachedIcon("hawkscope16.png"));
        dialogShell.setText("About");
        
        dialogShell.setLayout(new FormLayout());
        dialogShell.layout();
        dialogShell.pack();            
        dialogShell.setSize(516, 322);
        {
            copyReportButton = new Button(dialogShell, SWT.PUSH | SWT.CENTER);
            FormData copyReportButtonLData = new FormData();
            copyReportButtonLData.width = 125;
            copyReportButtonLData.height = 29;
            copyReportButtonLData.left =  new FormAttachment(0, 1000, 314);
            copyReportButtonLData.top =  new FormAttachment(0, 1000, 252);
            copyReportButton.setLayoutData(copyReportButtonLData);
            copyReportButton.addSelectionListener(new SelectionAdapter() {
               @Override
               public void widgetSelected(SelectionEvent event) {
                   IOUtils.copyToClipboard(Version.getEnvironmentReport());
               } 
            });
            copyReportButton.setText("Co&py to Clipboard");
            OSUtils.adjustButton(copyReportButton);
        }
        {
            closeButton = new Button(dialogShell, SWT.PUSH | SWT.CENTER);
            FormData closeButtonLData = new FormData();
            closeButtonLData.width = 47;
            closeButtonLData.height = 29;
            closeButtonLData.left =  new FormAttachment(0, 1000, 451);
            closeButtonLData.top =  new FormAttachment(0, 1000, 252);
            closeButton.setLayoutData(closeButtonLData);
            closeButton.addSelectionListener(new SelectionAdapter() {
               @Override
                public void widgetSelected(SelectionEvent event) {
                   dialogShell.dispose();
                } 
            });
            closeButton.setText("&Close");
            OSUtils.adjustButton(closeButton);
        }
        {
            environmentLabel = new Label(dialogShell, SWT.NONE);
            FormData environmentLabelLData = new FormData();
            environmentLabelLData.width = 486;
            environmentLabelLData.height = 17;
            environmentLabelLData.left =  new FormAttachment(0, 1000, 12);
            environmentLabelLData.top =  new FormAttachment(0, 1000, 127);
            environmentLabel.setLayoutData(environmentLabelLData);
            environmentLabel.setText("Environment");
            environmentLabel.setFont(SWTResourceManager.getFont("Sans", 10, 1));
        }
        {
            environmentTextArea = new Text(dialogShell, SWT.MULTI | SWT.WRAP 
                    | SWT.V_SCROLL | SWT.BORDER);
            FormData environmentTextAreaLData = new FormData();
            environmentTextAreaLData.width = 468;
            environmentTextAreaLData.height = 90;
            environmentTextAreaLData.left =  new FormAttachment(0, 1000, 12);
            environmentTextAreaLData.top =  new FormAttachment(0, 1000, 150);
            environmentTextArea.setLayoutData(environmentTextAreaLData);
            environmentTextArea.setText(Version.getSystemProperties());
            environmentTextArea.setEditable(false);
        }
        {
            appHomepageValue = new Label(dialogShell, SWT.NONE);
            appHomepageValue.addMouseListener(new MouseAdapter() {
                @Override
                public void mouseUp(MouseEvent event) {
                    Program.launch(Version.HOMEPAGE);
                } 
            });
            appHomepageValue.setCursor(new Cursor(dialogShell.getDisplay(), 
                    SWT.CURSOR_HAND));
            appHomepageValue.setForeground(
                    new Color(dialogShell.getDisplay(), 0, 0, 255));
            FormData appHomepageValueLData = new FormData();
            appHomepageValueLData.width = 242;
            appHomepageValueLData.height = 17;
            appHomepageValueLData.left =  new FormAttachment(0, 1000, 256);
            appHomepageValueLData.top =  new FormAttachment(0, 1000, 104);
            appHomepageValue.setLayoutData(appHomepageValueLData);
            appHomepageValue.setToolTipText("Click to open in browser");
            appHomepageValue.setText(Version.HOMEPAGE);
        }
        {
            appHomepageLabel = new Label(dialogShell, SWT.NONE);
            FormData appHomepageLabelLData = new FormData();
            appHomepageLabelLData.width = 94;
            appHomepageLabelLData.height = 17;
            appHomepageLabelLData.left =  new FormAttachment(0, 1000, 156);
            appHomepageLabelLData.top =  new FormAttachment(0, 1000, 104);
            appHomepageLabel.setLayoutData(appHomepageLabelLData);
            appHomepageLabel.setText("Homepage:");
            appHomepageLabel.setFont(SWTResourceManager.getFont("Sans", 10, 1));
        }
        {
            appReleasedValue = new Label(dialogShell, SWT.NONE);
            FormData appReleasedValueLData = new FormData();
            appReleasedValueLData.width = 242;
            appReleasedValueLData.height = 17;
            appReleasedValueLData.left =  new FormAttachment(0, 1000, 256);
            appReleasedValueLData.top =  new FormAttachment(0, 1000, 81);
            appReleasedValue.setLayoutData(appReleasedValueLData);
            appReleasedValue.setText(Version.VERSION_DATE);
        }
        {
            appReleasedLabel = new Label(dialogShell, SWT.NONE);
            FormData appReleasedLabelLData = new FormData();
            appReleasedLabelLData.width = 77;
            appReleasedLabelLData.height = 17;
            appReleasedLabelLData.left =  new FormAttachment(0, 1000, 156);
            appReleasedLabelLData.top =  new FormAttachment(0, 1000, 81);
            appReleasedLabel.setLayoutData(appReleasedLabelLData);
            appReleasedLabel.setText("Released:");
            appReleasedLabel.setFont(SWTResourceManager.getFont("Sans", 10, 1));
        }
        {
            appVersionValue = new Label(dialogShell, SWT.NONE);
            FormData appVersionValueLData = new FormData();
            appVersionValueLData.width = 242;
            appVersionValueLData.height = 17;
            appVersionValueLData.left =  new FormAttachment(0, 1000, 256);
            appVersionValueLData.top =  new FormAttachment(0, 1000, 58);
            appVersionValue.setLayoutData(appVersionValueLData);
            if (Version.isUpdateAvailable() == null) {
             appVersionValue.setText(Version.VERSION_NUMBER);
             if (ConfigurationFactory.getConfigurationFactory()
               .getConfiguration().checkForUpdates()) {
              appVersionValue.setToolTipText("Could not get version information.");
             }
            } else {
             if (Version.isUpdateAvailable()) {
                    appVersionValue.setForeground(new Color(dialogShell
                            .getDisplay(), 255, 0, 0));
                    appVersionValue.setText(Version.VERSION_NUMBER 
                            + " (Update Available!)");
                    appVersionValue.setToolTipText("Click to go to update " +
                      "download page");
                    appVersionValue.setCursor(new Cursor(dialogShell
                            .getDisplay(), SWT.CURSOR_HAND));
                    appVersionValue.addMouseListener(new MouseAdapter() {
                       @Override
                        public void mouseUp(MouseEvent event) {
                           Program.launch(Version.DOWNLOAD_URL);
                           dialogShell.dispose();
                        } 
                    });
                } else {
                    appVersionValue.setText(Version.VERSION_NUMBER);
                    appVersionValue.setToolTipText("Latest available version!");
                    appVersionValue.setForeground(new Color(dialogShell
                            .getDisplay(), 0, 128, 0));
                }
            }
        }
        {
            appVersion = new Label(dialogShell, SWT.NONE);
            FormData appVersionLData = new FormData();
            appVersionLData.width = 77;
            appVersionLData.height = 17;
            appVersionLData.left =  new FormAttachment(0, 1000, 156);
            appVersionLData.top =  new FormAttachment(0, 1000, 58);
            appVersion.setLayoutData(appVersionLData);
            appVersion.setText("Version:");
            appVersion.setFont(SWTResourceManager.getFont("Sans", 10, 1));
        }
        {
            appSloganLabel = new Label(dialogShell, SWT.WRAP);
            FormData appSloganLabelLData = new FormData();
            appSloganLabelLData.width = 342;
            appSloganLabelLData.height = 17;
            appSloganLabelLData.left =  new FormAttachment(0, 1000, 156);
            appSloganLabelLData.top =  new FormAttachment(0, 1000, 35);
            appSloganLabel.setLayoutData(appSloganLabelLData);
            appSloganLabel.setText(Version.APP_SLOGAN);
        }
        {
            appNameLabel = new Label(dialogShell, SWT.NONE);
            FormData appNameLabelLData = new FormData();
            appNameLabelLData.width = 342;
            appNameLabelLData.height = 17;
            appNameLabelLData.left =  new FormAttachment(0, 1000, 156);
            appNameLabelLData.top =  new FormAttachment(0, 1000, 12);
            appNameLabel.setLayoutData(appNameLabelLData);
            appNameLabel.setText("Hawkscope");
            appNameLabel.setFont(SWTResourceManager.getFont("Sans", 10, 1));
        }
        {
            final FormData logoCanvasLData = new FormData();
            logoCanvasLData.width = 114;
            logoCanvasLData.height = 109;
            logoCanvasLData.left =  new FormAttachment(0, 1000, 12);
            logoCanvasLData.top =  new FormAttachment(0, 1000, 12);
            logoCanvas = new Canvas(dialogShell, SWT.RESIZE);
            logoCanvas.addPaintListener(new PaintListener() {
                public void paintControl(PaintEvent e) {
                    e.gc.drawImage(IconFactory.getInstance()
                            .getUncachedIcon("hawkscope128.png"), 0, 0, 128, 
                            128, 0, 0, 114, 109);
                }
            });
            logoCanvas.addMouseListener(new MouseAdapter() {
                @Override
                public void mouseUp(MouseEvent event) {
                    Program.launch(Version.HOMEPAGE);
                } 
            });
            logoCanvas.setCursor(new Cursor(dialogShell.getDisplay(), 
                    SWT.CURSOR_HAND));
            logoCanvas.setToolTipText("Click to visit Homepage");
            logoCanvas.setLayoutData(logoCanvasLData);
        }
        dialogShell.setLocation(getParent().toDisplay(100, 100));
        dialogShell.open();
        Display display = dialogShell.getDisplay();
        while (!dialogShell.isDisposed()) {
            if (!display.readAndDispatch())
                display.sleep();
        }
    }

}

Now, a hand-rewritten version with no GUI builder:

The code:

package com.varaneckas.hawkscope.gui;

import org.eclipse.swt.SWT;
import org.eclipse.swt.events.MouseAdapter;
import org.eclipse.swt.events.MouseEvent;
import org.eclipse.swt.events.PaintEvent;
import org.eclipse.swt.events.PaintListener;
import org.eclipse.swt.events.SelectionAdapter;
import org.eclipse.swt.events.SelectionEvent;
import org.eclipse.swt.graphics.Color;
import org.eclipse.swt.graphics.Cursor;
import org.eclipse.swt.graphics.Font;
import org.eclipse.swt.graphics.FontData;
import org.eclipse.swt.layout.FormAttachment;
import org.eclipse.swt.layout.FormData;
import org.eclipse.swt.layout.FormLayout;
import org.eclipse.swt.program.Program;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Button;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Canvas;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Control;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Label;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Shell;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Text;

import com.varaneckas.hawkscope.Version;
import com.varaneckas.hawkscope.cfg.ConfigurationFactory;
import com.varaneckas.hawkscope.tray.TrayManager;
import com.varaneckas.hawkscope.util.IOUtils;
import com.varaneckas.hawkscope.util.IconFactory;

public class AboutShell {
    
    private Shell shell;
    private FormData layout;
    private Font bold;
    private Color red;
    private Color green;
    private Color blue;
    private Cursor hand;
    private Canvas logo;
    private Label labelAppName;
    private Label labelAppSlogan;
    private Label labelVersion;
    private Label labelReleased;
    private Label labelHomePage;
    private Label labelAppVersion;
    private Label labelAppReleased;
    private Label labelAppHomePage;
    private Label labelEnvironment;
    private Text textEnvironment;
    private Button buttonCopyToClipboard;
    private Button buttonClose;
    
    public void open() {
        if (shell != null && !shell.isDisposed()) {
            shell.setVisible(true);
            shell.forceFocus();
            return;
        }       
        createShell();
        createResources();
        createLogo();
        createLabelAppName();
        createLabelAppSlogan();
        createLabelVersion();
        createLabelReleased();
        createLabelHomePage();
        createLabelAppVersion();
        createLabelAppReleased();
        createLabelAppHomePage();
        createLabelEnvironment();
        createButtonClose();
        createButtonCopyToClipboard();
        createTextEnvironment();
        shell.pack();
        shell.open();
    }
    
    private void createResources() {
        final FontData data = new FontData();
        data.setHeight(10);
        data.setStyle(SWT.BOLD);
        bold = new Font(shell.getDisplay(), data);
        red = new Color(shell.getDisplay(), 255, 0, 0);
        green = new Color(shell.getDisplay(), 0, 128, 0);
        blue = new Color(shell.getDisplay(), 0, 0, 255);
        hand = new Cursor(shell.getDisplay(), SWT.CURSOR_HAND);
    }
    
    private void createShell() {
        shell = new Shell(TrayManager.getInstance().getShell(), SWT.SHELL_TRIM);
        final FormLayout layout = new FormLayout();
        layout.spacing = 6;
        layout.marginHeight = 12;
        layout.marginWidth = 12;
        shell.setLocation(shell.getParent().toDisplay(100, 100));
        shell.setImage(IconFactory.getInstance()
                .getUncachedIcon("hawkscope16.png"));
        shell.setText("About");
        shell.setLayout(layout);
        shell.layout();
    }
    
    private FormData relativeTo(final Control top, final Control left) {
        layout = new FormData();
        layout.top = new FormAttachment(top);
        layout.left = new FormAttachment(left);
        return layout;
    }
    
    private FormData relativeToBottomRight(final Control right) {
        layout = new FormData();
        layout.bottom = new FormAttachment(100, 0);
        if (right == null) {
            layout.right = new FormAttachment(100, 0);
        } else {
            layout.right = new FormAttachment(right);
        }
        return layout;
    }    
    
    private void createLogo() {
        logo = new Canvas(shell, SWT.NONE);
        logo.addPaintListener(new PaintListener() {
            public void paintControl(PaintEvent e) {
                e.gc.drawImage(IconFactory.getInstance()
                        .getUncachedIcon("hawkscope128.png"), 0, 0);
            }
        });
        logo.addMouseListener(new MouseAdapter() {
            @Override
            public void mouseUp(MouseEvent event) {
                Program.launch(Version.HOMEPAGE);
            } 
        });
        logo.setCursor(hand);
        logo.setToolTipText("Click to visit Homepage");
        layout = relativeTo(null, null);
        layout.width = 128;
        layout.height = 128;
        logo.setLayoutData(layout);
    }
    
    private void createLabelAppName() {
        labelAppName = new Label(shell, SWT.NONE);
        labelAppName.setText(Version.APP_NAME);
        labelAppName.setLayoutData(relativeTo(null, logo));
        labelAppName.setFont(bold);
    }
    
    private void createLabelAppSlogan() {
        labelAppSlogan = new Label(shell, SWT.NONE);
        labelAppSlogan.setLayoutData(relativeTo(labelAppName, logo));
        labelAppSlogan.setText(Version.APP_SLOGAN);
    }
    
    private void createLabelVersion() {
        labelVersion = new Label(shell, SWT.NONE);
        labelVersion.setText("Version:");
        labelVersion.setFont(bold);
        labelVersion.setLayoutData(relativeTo(labelAppSlogan, logo));
    }
    
    private void createLabelAppVersion() {
        labelAppVersion = new Label(shell, SWT.NONE);
        labelAppVersion.setText(Version.VERSION_NUMBER);
        labelAppVersion.setLayoutData(relativeTo(labelAppSlogan, labelHomePage));
        updateLabelAppVersion();
    }
    
    private void updateLabelAppVersion() {
        if (Version.isUpdateAvailable() == null) {
            if (ConfigurationFactory.getConfigurationFactory()
                    .getConfiguration().checkForUpdates()) {
                labelAppVersion.setToolTipText("Could not get version information.");
            }
        } else {
            if (Version.isUpdateAvailable()) {
                labelAppVersion.setForeground(red);
                labelAppVersion.setText(Version.VERSION_NUMBER 
                        + " (Update Available!)");
                labelAppVersion.setToolTipText("Click to go to update " +
                        "download page");
                labelAppVersion.setCursor(hand);
                labelAppVersion.addMouseListener(new MouseAdapter() {
                   @Override
                    public void mouseUp(final MouseEvent event) {
                       Program.launch(Version.DOWNLOAD_URL);
                       shell.dispose();
                    } 
                });
            } else {
                labelAppVersion.setText(Version.VERSION_NUMBER);
                labelAppVersion.setToolTipText("Latest available version!");
                labelAppVersion.setForeground(green);
            }
        }
    }
    
    private void createLabelReleased() {
        labelReleased = new Label(shell, SWT.NONE); 
        labelReleased.setText("Released:");
        labelReleased.setFont(bold);
        labelReleased.setLayoutData(relativeTo(labelVersion, logo));
    }
    
    private void createLabelAppReleased() {
        labelAppReleased = new Label(shell, SWT.NONE);
        labelAppReleased.setText(Version.VERSION_DATE);
        labelAppReleased.setLayoutData(relativeTo(labelVersion, labelHomePage));
    }
    
    private void createLabelHomePage() {
        labelHomePage = new Label(shell, SWT.NONE); 
        labelHomePage.setText("Homepage:");
        labelHomePage.setFont(bold);
        labelHomePage.setLayoutData(relativeTo(labelReleased, logo));
    }    
    
    private void createLabelAppHomePage() {
        labelAppHomePage = new Label(shell, SWT.NONE);
        labelAppHomePage.setText(Version.HOMEPAGE);
        labelAppHomePage.setLayoutData(relativeTo(labelReleased, labelHomePage));
        labelAppHomePage.setCursor(hand);
        labelAppHomePage.setForeground(blue);
        labelAppHomePage.setToolTipText("Click to open in browser");
        labelAppHomePage.addMouseListener(new MouseAdapter() {
            @Override
            public void mouseUp(final MouseEvent event) {
                Program.launch(Version.HOMEPAGE);
            } 
        });
    }
    
    private void createLabelEnvironment() {
        labelEnvironment = new Label(shell, SWT.NONE);
        labelEnvironment.setText("Environment");
        labelEnvironment.setFont(bold);
        labelEnvironment.setLayoutData(relativeTo(logo, null));
    }

    private void createButtonClose() {
        buttonClose = new Button(shell, SWT.PUSH);
        buttonClose.setText("&Close");
        buttonClose.setLayoutData(relativeToBottomRight(null));
        buttonClose.addSelectionListener(new SelectionAdapter() {
            @Override
            public void widgetSelected(final SelectionEvent event) {
                shell.dispose();
            } 
         });
    }
    
    private void createButtonCopyToClipboard() {
        buttonCopyToClipboard = new Button(shell, SWT.PUSH);
        buttonCopyToClipboard.setText("C&opy to Clipboard");
        buttonCopyToClipboard.setLayoutData(relativeToBottomRight(buttonClose));
        buttonCopyToClipboard.addSelectionListener(new SelectionAdapter() {
            @Override
            public void widgetSelected(final SelectionEvent event) {
                IOUtils.copyToClipboard(Version.getEnvironmentReport());
            } 
         });
    }
    
    private void createTextEnvironment() {
        textEnvironment = new Text(shell, SWT.MULTI | SWT.WRAP 
                | SWT.V_SCROLL | SWT.BORDER);
        textEnvironment.setText(Version.getEnvironmentReport());
        textEnvironment.setEditable(false);
        layout = relativeTo(labelEnvironment, null);
        layout.right = new FormAttachment(100, 0);
        layout.bottom = new FormAttachment(buttonClose);
        layout.width = 500;
        layout.height = 150;
        textEnvironment.setLayoutData(layout);
    }    
    
}

If you compare the two versions, handcoded one is superior in most aspects. The code is smaller, more readable and text editor friendly. The window can be resized, it is better looking - in generated code the logo image was scaled due to dragging inacuracy. And, believe it or not, I've spent less time creating the handcoded GUI version than "drawing" the automated one and then hacking it's generated code. Of course, if you know your tools well, you can be much more productive with a GUI builder, but I'll rather learn the low-level GUI API than some commercial third party product that treats you like parents treat their kids with LEGO.

No more GUI builders for me.

Hawkscope on Mac. Finally.

2009-01-28T20:11:00.005+02:00

Last week I have quit sleeping and did hell of a coding on Hawkscope. And there's a new version, with many significant changes and improvements. To name a few:

Works on Mac OS X! (Java 5, Tiger / Leopard)

Installer packages for Windows, Mac and Debian (Ubuntu).

Settings can finally be changed via Settings Window, like in most normal applications...

Speed! Especially noticeable when you have many network drives.

Check for updates. A new way to annoy the users!

Blacklist. Remove all the shit you don't want to see.

Download links:
hawkscope_0.4.0-1_i386.deb: Debian Package for i386 GTK Linux (Ubuntu)
hawkscope_0.4.0-1_amd64.deb: Debian Package for amd64 GTK Linux (Ubuntu)
Hawkscope-0.4.0.dmg: Mac OS X i386 Package (Tiger/Leopard)
hawkscope-0.4.0-installer.exe: Windows i386 Installer (XP/Vista)

Hawkscope: Getting Better

2009-01-22T08:10:00.008+02:00

Finally, I've managed to finish the SWT implementation of Hawkscope GUI. Along with some other minor fixes and improvements it ended up as a new Hawkscope version: 0.3.0.

A list of key points for this release:

Tray icon should work with Mac OS X (at least with 64-bit Leopard /w Java 6)

Hawkscope menu is more responsive and usable

Keyboard navigation through the menu is finally available

Each OS/Architecture has it's own build

Added -delay <milliseconds> startup parameter as a workaround for Java bug #6438179 that prevented Hawkscope from auto-starting in operating systems like Ubuntu. Read more in the User Guide

By the way, if you're on 64-bit Vista or 64-bit Leopard with Java 6 and you've got Maven in your hands, you could be helpful by providing the build for your OS. Thank You!

If Java is your cocaine, you are welcome to join the development - just contact me.

Download links for the new Hawkscope 0.3.0:

hawkscope-0.3.0-linux-gtk-32.jar - Linux GTK 32-bit Executable JAR
hawkscope-0.3.0-linux-gtk-64.jar - Linux GTK 64-bit Executable JAR
hawkscope-0.3.0-win-32.exe - Windows XP/Vista 32-bit Executable
hawkscope-0.3.0-win-32.jar - Windows XP/Vista 32-bit Executable JAR

Dive into Java

2009-01-20T12:08:00.002+02:00

Java Jump-start for experienced software developers. Another presentation I gave at work.

Brainshifting programmers from procedural to object oriented

2009-01-20T10:45:00.007+02:00

Slides from a talk I gave at work. The talk is about a transition from procedural to object oriented programming.

High scalabilaty at it's best

2009-01-15T11:07:00.005+02:00

That's a great example of how to do extremely scalable websites.

http://highscalabilaty.com:

I guess someone forgot to scale the database... hehe...

Using Unicode in Java .property files

2009-01-06T06:58:00.001+02:00

Using multi-byte characters in Java .property files? Forget the Sun's native2ascii application. Rather than doing the irritating conversions, create UTF-8 encoded .property files, edit them directly and use Utf8ResourceBundle to access them. The code:

package com.varaneckas.utils;

import java.io.UnsupportedEncodingException;
import java.util.Enumeration;
import java.util.PropertyResourceBundle;
import java.util.ResourceBundle;

/**
 * UTF-8 friendly ResourceBundle support
 * 
 * Utility that allows having multi-byte characters inside java .property files.
 * It removes the need for Sun's native2ascii application, you can simply have
 * UTF-8 encoded editable .property files.
 * 
 * Use: 
 * ResourceBundle bundle = Utf8ResourceBundle.getBundle("bundle_name");
 * 
 * @author Tomas Varaneckas <tomas.varaneckas@gmail.com>
 */
public abstract class Utf8ResourceBundle {
    
    /**
     * Gets the unicode friendly resource bundle
     * 
     * @param baseName
     * @see ResourceBundle#getBundle(String)
     * @return Unicode friendly resource bundle
     */
    public static final ResourceBundle getBundle(final String baseName) {
        return createUtf8PropertyResourceBundle(
                ResourceBundle.getBundle(baseName));
    }

    /**
     * Creates unicode friendly {@link PropertyResourceBundle} if possible.
     * 
     * @param bundle 
     * @return Unicode friendly property resource bundle
     */
    private static ResourceBundle createUtf8PropertyResourceBundle(
            final ResourceBundle bundle) {
        if (!(bundle instanceof PropertyResourceBundle)) {
            return bundle;
        }
        return new Utf8PropertyResourceBundle((PropertyResourceBundle) bundle);
    }

    /**
     * Resource Bundle that does the hard work
     */
    private static class Utf8PropertyResourceBundle extends ResourceBundle {

        /**
         * Bundle with unicode data
         */
        private final PropertyResourceBundle bundle;

        /**
         * Initializing constructor
         * 
         * @param bundle
         */
        private Utf8PropertyResourceBundle(final PropertyResourceBundle bundle) {
            this.bundle = bundle;
        }

        @Override
        @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
        public Enumeration getKeys() {
            return bundle.getKeys();
        }

        @Override
        protected Object handleGetObject(final String key) {
            final String value = bundle.getString(key);
            if (value == null)
                return null;
            try {
                return new String(value.getBytes("ISO-8859-1"), "UTF-8");
            } catch (final UnsupportedEncodingException e) {
                throw new RuntimeException("Encoding not supported", e);
            }
        }
    }
}

Fight for Java

2008-12-23T05:48:00.005+02:00

Java - the #1 programming language according the famous TIOBE index. It has it's lovers and haters, damn, this community even has their own Paris Hilton! However, why is Java #1? What is the key of success and is it a blessing or a curse? I'll try to explain my point of view.

The Academic People

Java has been widely promoted in academic sector, as it's clean syntax works great for demonstrating concepts of programming, from simple algorithms to more sophisticated design patterns, and all that can be easily visualized online with help of a few simple Java applets. The versatility of this language paved a way for Java to be the language of academic example code. That also meant that fresh students were ready to code in Java.

The Community

There is a large community behind Java. And I'm not talking about Habib who knows how to do System.out.println("Dear Sirs,\n Hello World!"); in main method. Java Community Process is one of the greatest things any programming language could get. Lots of strong open source projects, some of them supported by major players like IBM, Google, Nokia.

Java Crowd

There's a massive amount of programmers who (claim to) know Java, or a subset of Java (like J2ME). Tens, hundreds of thousands. Maybe millions? You can count India alone.

Online Resources

Want to learn Java? Well you can! Many books offer that in 21 days, in 7 days, fuck, even in 24 hours. Solution to virtually any popular problem can be Googled up in a few minutes. There are thousands of active blogs and sites with big communities and loads of traffic.

Quantity over Quality

Even though there are millions of online resources for Java developers, 95% of them is bullshit. Other 4.99% are vendor content and the last 0.01% is what you will most likely not find easily. You can subscribe to any popular Java related news feed and try looking at it. What do you see? Spam... Spam... Crap... Spam... Bullshit... Spam... Old news... Spam... Crap...

And most of other "respected" sites like theserverside.com, IBM developer works, even java.sun.com - they're all full of shit. They're trying to trick you into using their enterprisey frameworks that offer you incredible results in ridicoulously short amount of time. Yeah, right.

The Enterprises

A combination of traits like static typing, clean and straightforward syntax, strict error handling and garbage collection along with serious attitude and effort that Sun has put into Java to make it a stable, mature, well-designed cross platform (PC to refrigerator) programming language has quickly brought attention to enterprise corporations. Java was quickly adopted as a server-side language of choice in huge and demanding sectors like wholesale banking and telecommunications to name a few. Why wouldn't they choose Java when there's such a crowd available for hire?

Carreer Programmers

When enterprises target a language, it can only mean one thing - there's lots money involved. And if there's money involved, various types of people will reach for it. Job security, yearly raises, big prospects, etc. Smells like a good career opportunity. Based on people that I have encountered or interviewed over last couple of years I dare to claim that at least 80% of Java crowd are career programmers who feel no joy in developing software and frankly don't give a fuck about it. Also, 5 years of Java programming experience does not mean that person knows how to develop software properly, how to take full advantage of OOP, what is software lifecycles, how to automate stuff, etc. It's possible that he was simply "growing experience" with routine tasks. If you do same boring things for 5 years in a row it does not make you good.

Bad Company

Big bad enterprises have adopted and integrated Java with their software. Many programmers learned Java using the resources provided in third party enterprise tutorials. Yes, I am talking about Oracle. Oracle Technology Network can quickly turn you into a brainwashed JDeveloper using zombie who does web with Oracle ADF. You shoul avoid this sort of digital perversion at any cost. Problem is that many certified J2EE architects with many years of experience are the graduates of Oracle Java school and you cannot convince them that the Matrix they live in is just a big pile of shit that they can't see because they're looking at it from too close. If you see a certified Java someone who is also certified Oracle someone, go away real quick to avoid potential brain damage.

Open Source

Java has one of the widest open source selection you can wish for. Thanks to Sun's properly thought out packaging system Java has a vast amount of reusable open source libraries anyone can get, so software development is now just like building lego blocks and knowledge of how to write programs actually means knowledge of open source components and how to use their API. If you're writing your own code, you're probably duplicating something that is already there. Of course, we should not forget all the big things like giant frameworks, application servers and developer tools.

Open Legacy

Legacy is a word that is usually associated with old corporate software that all developers hate and tend to avoid. However, open source software also has their own legacy. These are things that a bunch of people cowboy coded several years ago and threw away and now their terrible code is reused in thousands of other projects. Although there is active development, it's usually about minor fixes, not serious API changes. Current committers are rarely related to original authors. Apache Software Foundation is probably the main source of Java's Open Legacy.

Java Certification

That is another tricky topic. Sun is promoting their Java certification offering many levels of complexity. You may even think that this can actually help. In reality certification shows how bad your brain damage is. Like if you know the tricky details of EJB and JSF, you may qualify for Sun Certified Web Component Developer. In other words, certification will raise your chances of getting blind-hired by the next drone enslaving corporation. And for Sun it's the money from the masses. It's also a good source of money for various book publishers, Java experts and companies who can do Java certification training.

Java Books

Good books are rare. Especially good programming books. Especially good Java programming books. There are several types of crap books you can encounter:

A book on a popular topic writen primarily to earn money.
A book by unknown author who wants to earn a buck and promote himself by rewriting some servlet manuals along with crappy source code examples.
A book by one or more authors who want to push their another open source business 2.0 product.
A "smart" book that gives you 50 pages worth of bullshit in 500 illustrated repetative pages (Head First series)
A brainwasher book that shows how cool are dynamic languages, how will they run on JVM and replace Java, so you should convince people to learn Ruby, Groovy, Erlang or something like that.

You should never trust authors and publishers. Read different things and make your own conclusions instead. There is no single book that will guide you though the mess that Java is.

Follow the Sun

If you go to the official source of Java - java.sun.com website, you will be offered to take a look at Sun's selection of enterprise crapware. Probably the only good thing you can find there is the core Java API. Other than that you will be offered to use NetBeans instead of Eclipse or IDEA which are the choice of most good Java developers. You will encounter crapware like JavaFX and if you press any link that has EE letters in it, you will be quickly showered with shitloads of Sun's bloatware that most carreer J2EE architects love to use. Why? Because it's offered by Sun. It's hard to believe in Java when the cradle itself is so rotten.

Conferences

Want to get spammed straight to your face by the authors of a new "revolutionary" crap product? Then Java conferences is a place to be. Of course, there are interesting and worthy talks too, but if you're a young and trusty you can easily get brainwashed by soft voiced smart bearded baldy who will convince you that his MOM will make your wet dreams come true. Open source projects that are around for not long enough or those that are backed up by some corporations are usually vendor traps, so you should avoid them. Also, you'll hear lot's of buzzwords like SOA, ESB, etc. You may even want to start using them in your day job. Do you really want to? Point is that it's almost always about big money for big corporations and not about beautiful software development. You don't need another overengineered JMS driven autoclustered enterprise service bus at a price of a new Lexus to do software integration.

Fight for Java

It's the developers that make Java what it is today. Don't let the corporate bastards convince you to use their crap. You don't need military boots to swim in a pool and you don't need enterprise tools to build your software. Fight for pure Java, fight for clean and useful open source, fight for a honest community and make Java a better language. Fight to get rid of corporate J2EE/Oracle architects and their enterprise bloatware, fight for good lightweight tooling and for the right to be productive. Fight for freedom and for the right to choose. Fight for light, fast and simple Java.

How to restore grub after Windows installation

2008-12-08T18:38:00.011+02:00

There's nothing magical about it, you can easily Google it up, but I always forget the "find /boot/grub..." part and there are many other ways people explain this procedure, so I'm adding a screenshot as I'm doing it yet another time.

This is a best and easiest way to fix MBR after Windows f*ck it up.

In short:
1. boot from Ubuntu live CD (or any other live cd)
2. start a terminal
3.

sudo grub
find /boot/grub/stage1
root (hdX,Y)
setup (hdX)
quit

If you've got several drives you should check if your Windows partition is bootable and the other ones are not, otherwise if you install grub into linux partition, Windows will "fix" itself by changing bootable flag. To view and change bootable flags in Ubuntu Live go to System > Administration > Partition Editor (or run sudo gparted in terminal). The rest is illustrated below.

If grub loads but boot fails, it means grub detected your partitions incorrectly. Hit 'e' on linux entry, change the "root (hd1,0)" to "root (hd0,0)" or vice versa and press 'b' to attempt a modified boot. Repeat the "sudo grub" procedure when booted, but choose "setup (hdX)" target the oposite of your "root", i.e., if you did "root (hd1,0)", do "setup (hd0)" instead of "setup (hd1)". You should also edit /boot/grub/menu.lst afterwards and change all (hd0 to (hd1 and (hd1 to (hd0 to fix the boot menu.

Does all software have to suck?..

How to be a good specialist and still have a life

2008-12-01T17:08:00.008+02:00

There is a saying "life, sleep, career - choose two". But is it possible to choose three without sacrificing anything significant?

Types of people
As far as you can see the world mostly consists of two stereotypes of people - ones who are successful at their career but have very little time for family and themselves and those who have lots of prime time with their beloved ones, yet, they are very average at what they do for living. Both approaches have their advantages and a "price to pay". Let's break everything down to pieces:

A hard worker
Stereotypical work mule who performs as 5 people and is loved by most employees.
Pros:
• Skilled specialist
• Loves what she does
• No problems at finding a great job
• Wealthy living
Cons:
• Often too tired
• Often with bad habits (coffee, cigarettes)
• Health problems (because of the above)
• Always in a hurry
• Problems with personal life
• Works at spare time
• Problems with sleep (due to lifestyle)

A soft worker
Stereotypical average lazy guy without career ambitions who is reading news papers at work while thinking of his wife and kids. The bigger the corporation, the more soft workers it has.
Pros:
• Laid back and relaxed most of the time
• Not too tired
• No coffee overdoses
• Sleeps like a rock
• Has a life and enjoys it
Cons:
• Often short on money
• Shabby resume
• The only career path - to stay long enough in one place to become a loyal "company veteran".

Which way of life is better?
I think the right answer is that being both hard or soft worker is wrong. Why? Look at the cons. There's no life without money, and money is worthless without a life. Wouldn't it be lovely if you could refactor your life to avoid having the cons of either of those? I made my attempt and found a formula that works for me. It could be useful for more software developers or even people with other professions.

Think out of the box
What is the definition of "work"? Is it a place you go 5 times a week and do things you are told for 4 hours, have a lunch and then do more things you are told for 4 more hours? If you have this attitude, you're most probably a soft worker. Loose it. If your definition of "work" is a place where you go to learn something, to do great things and achieve great results, to improve yourself and to help others, you're most probably a hard worker. Congrats. Now read further to find how to reclaim your personal life and have more free time.

Work is a Symbiosis
Remember biology. Work is a symbiosis of employer and employee. And for that symbiosis to work both sides must give each other equal amount of value. If you work hard, don't let yourself to be underpaid for various reasons your employee could come up with. Those reasons can vary from "you haven't worked here long enough to earn that much" to "no programmer earns that much here". Respect yourself and don't work for food.

Work 4 days a week
3 day long weekend every week? Most employees are OK with this option, though I haven't found many people using this. Stop crying that you have no time to spend your money and go ask for shorter work week. And believe me, It's worth to earn less money for that. You can choose what to do. You can sleep longer. You can do your routines and spend the rest of your long weekend without stress. Read a book, or even write a one. Learn Kung-Fu or fly RC planes with your kid. Forget the feeling of being tired. More time with less money has more value than more money with less time.

Debug your commute
When I first came to the company I currently work at, there were two official choices of work hours: 8-17 and 9-18 including 1-hour of lunch. It was a nightmare to have 45-60 minute long drive in one direction. The traffic is unbelievable here in Vilnius. Now where was that emphasized word mentioned before? Official. What is official? When a tree has symbiosis with a shroom, do they have official ours for their activities? I guess not. It's a matter of one single conversation with authority to get your work hours flexible or to begin when you want it to. Early bird? Choose 7-16 and have more time with family. If you're nocturnal, work 10-19 to avoid traffic and get more sleep. Or for best results, choose to come anywhere between 7 and 10 AM and leave office respectively. Can you work remotely? Great, do it. And if noone told you can work remotely or even told that you officially cannot, go and have a talk. You may be surprised. As of myself, I like to get up early and save my daylight, so I work 7-16. And my drive time is now 15 minutes in both directions. Did you know that one extra free hour a day saves two weeks of time in one year?

Debug your time
Again, it's all about the official stuff. If your company has the "official" coffee breaks at 9 and 15 hours sharp, make sure you get your coffee before that to save extra 20 minutes of productivity.

Contribute back to The Company
Be good at what you do and don't do it just for money. See more than you should. If something's wrong - say it aloud, don't just curse and look for a new job. Even large enterprises can be shaken from the bottom, and your contributions will give you experience and increase your karma. I mean it. Do it to get closer to beauty and perfection. Plant a seed and see how it grows. If you are a software developer in a company that uses home grown Windows-only issue tracker that sucks ass does not mean you can't tell your boss that you know what would make a great replacement for the suck-ass issue tracker that everyone hates. Don't wait for a miracle to happen, make miracles yourself.

A symbiotic worker
That's what I call the type of worker that is between hard and soft. In short, it's like this:
Pros:
• Skilled specialist
• Loves what she does
• No problems at finding a great job
• Probably a wealthy living
• Not too tired
• Has a life and enjoys it
• Employers who practice slavery tends to avoid such people (harder to get a bad job)
Cons:
• Still not a free soul. Make a startup of your own to become one, if you can.

You only live once, so don't waste yourself. Don't be a slave.

Python MUD Game Example

2008-11-25T21:37:00.013+02:00

I've found a small MUD-like single player game that I did with Python several years ago. Thought it would be nice to share the source. So here it is.

First of all, a live demo (type help. gone if my internet connection or home server is down.)

server down

And a "screenshot" (sorry for my bad sense of humor):


> help
welcome to mud. available commands are:
 go, move, help, exit, look, say, take, drop, inventory, use
>
Unknown Command
> look
spajus sees deep green woods. There also seems to be: flower, bird
> touch bird
looks like a rainbow
> use bird
you do not have bird
> take bird
spajus puts bird in his inventory
> use bird
cuckarekoo! motherfucka!?!
> drop bird
bird was dropped..
> kill bird
Unknown Command
> look north
spajus sees shallow river. There also seems to be: object
> go north
spajus moves to shallow river
> look object
spajus sees a stinky one
> touch object
ewww...
> take object
spajus puts shit in his inventory
> use shit
you are sick, you know that?

Now, the engine.py


class MudObject:
 def __init__(self, name, sight, collide = 'nothing happens', usability = 'unusable'):
   self.name = name
   self.sight = sight
   self.collide = collide
   self.usability = usability
 def view(self):
   return self.sight
 def touch(self):
   return self.collide
 def use(self):
   return self.usability
class MudPlayer:
 def __init__(self, name):
   self.inventory = {}
   self.name = name
   self.health = 100
 def move(self, area):
   return self.name + ' moves to ' + area.sight
 def take(self, obj):
   self.inventory[obj.name] = obj
   return self.name + ' puts ' + obj.name + ' in his inventory'
 def drop(self, name):
   if self.inventory.has_key(name):
     return self.inventory.pop(name)
 def say(self, what):
   return self.name + ' says: ' + what
 def use(self, what):
   if self.inventory.has_key(what):
     return self.inventory[what].use()
   else:
     return 'you do not have ' + what

class MudArea:
 def __init__(self, sight):
   self.objects = {}
   self.panorama = {}
   self.sight = sight
   self.inverted_directions = {'north':'south', 'south':'north', 'east':'west', 'west':'east'}
 def addArea(self, direction, area):
   area.panorama[self.inverted_directions[direction]] = self
   self.panorama[direction] = area
  
 def relocate(self, args):   
   try:
     return self.panorama[args]
   except KeyError:
     return None
 def addObject(self, name, obj):
   if obj != None:
     self.objects[name] = obj
     return name + ' was dropped..'
 def getObject(self, name):
   if self.objects.has_key(name):
     return self.objects.pop(name)
   else:
     return 'there is no ' + name + ' arround!'
 def touchObject(self, name):
   if self.objects.has_key(name):
     return self.objects[name].touch()
   else:
     return 'there is no ' + name + ' arround!'
 def view(self, args = 'arround'):
   if (args != '' and args != 'arround'):
     try:
       return self.panorama[args].view()
     except KeyError:
       try:
         return self.objects[args].view()
       except KeyError:
         return 'nothing.'
   else:
     objects = ', '.join([k for k, v in self.objects.items()])
     if (objects != ''):       
       obsight = '. There also seems to be: ' + objects
     else:
       obsight = ''
     return self.sight + obsight
import sys

class MudCommand:
 """ welcome to mud. available commands are:
 go, move, help, exit, look, touch, say, take, drop, inventory, use """
 def __init__(self, char, area):
   self.char = char
   self.area = area

 def go(self, args):
   """ alias of move """
   return self.move(args)

 def use(self, args):
   """ uses item from inventory """
   return self.char.use(args)

 def inventory(self, args):
   """ displays inventory """
   return self.char.name + ' has: ' + ', '.join(self.char.inventory)

 def help(self, args):
   """ gives you help on a topic"""     
   if args == '':
     return self.__doc__
   else:
     try:
       return getattr(self, args).__doc__
     except AttributeError:
       return 'help topic not found'

 def exit(self, args):
   """ exits game """ 
   print 'bye bye!'
   sys.exit()
  
 def look(self, args):
   """ lets you look arround """
   return self.char.name + ' sees ' + self.area.view(args)

 def take(self, args):
   """ takes item from the ground """
   try:
     return self.char.take(self.area.getObject(args))
   except AttributeError:
     return 'you cannot take ' + args
  
 def touch(self, args):
   """ touches item from the ground """
   return self.area.touchObject(args)

 def drop(self, args):
   """ drops item from inventory to current area """
   return self.area.addObject(args, self.char.drop(args))

 def move(self, args):
   """ moves arround """ 
   area = self.area.relocate(args)
   if area != None:
     self.area = area
     return self.char.move(self.area)
   else:
     return 'There seems to be nothing that way.'
  
 def say(self, args):
   """ makes character talk """
   return self.char.say(args)     
class MudGame:
 def __init__(self, char, area):
   self.cmd = MudCommand(char, area)

 def run(self):
   while True:
     command = raw_input('> ');
     self.parse(command)
  
 def parse(self, command):
   comm = command.lower().split(' ')
   try:
     cmd = comm[0]
   except IndexError:
     cmd = 'help'
   try:
     args = comm[1:]
   except IndexError:
     args = []
   try:
     result = getattr(self.cmd, cmd)(' '.join(args).strip())
   except AttributeError:
     result = 'Unknown Command'
   print result

And the main game script - mud.py:


from engine import *

#objects (name, description, on touch, on use)
rose = MudObject('rose', 'a red blossom with spikes', 'bites fingers!', 'wanna eat it or what?')
shit = MudObject('shit', 'a stinky one', 'ewww...', 'you are sick, you know that?')
gaidys = MudObject('bird', 'oh, a cock!', 'looks like a rainbow', 'cuckarekoo! motherfucka!?!')

#areas
woods = MudArea('deep green woods')
river = MudArea('shallow river')
hills = MudArea('orc hills')
house = MudArea('house of all gay')
meadow = MudArea('a green smelly meadow')

#attaching interactive stuff to areas
river.addObject('object', shit)
woods.addObject('flower', rose)
woods.addObject('bird', gaidys)
meadow.addObject('animal', gaidys)

#link all areas with bidirectional references
river.addArea('south', hills)
woods.addArea('north', river)
woods.addArea('west', house)
hills.addArea('east', meadow)
meadow.addArea('north', woods)

#create a player
char = MudPlayer('spajus')

#create a game with player and starting area
game = MudGame(char, woods)

#lets go!
game.run()

OK, and of course, unit tests:


import unittest
from engine import *

class TestMudObject(unittest.TestCase):
 def setUp(self):
   self.o = MudObject('object1', 'sight1', 'collision1', 'usage1')
   self.o2 = MudObject('object2', 'sight2')
  
 def test_view(self):
   self.assertEqual(self.o.view(), 'sight1')
   self.assertEqual(self.o2.view(), 'sight2')
   self.assertNotEqual(self.o.view(), 'c')
   self.assertNotEqual(self.o.view(), self.o2.view())
  
 def test_touch(self):
   self.assertEqual(self.o.touch(), 'collision1')
   self.assertEqual(self.o2.touch(), 'nothing happens')
   self.assertNotEqual(self.o.touch(), 'sight1')
   self.assertNotEqual(self.o.touch(), self.o2.touch())
  
 def test_use(self):
   self.assertEqual(self.o.use(), 'usage1')
   self.assertEqual(self.o2.use(), 'unusable')
   self.assertNotEqual(self.o.use(), 'unsuable')
   self.assertNotEqual(self.o.use(), self.o2.use())
  
class TestMudPlayer(unittest.TestCase):
 def setUp(self):
   self.p1 = MudPlayer('player1')
   self.p2 = MudPlayer('player2')
   self.area1 = MudArea('area1')
   self.area2 = MudArea('area2')
   self.o = MudObject('object1', 'sight1', 'collision1', 'usage1')
   self.o2 = MudObject('object2', 'sight2')
  
 def test_move(self):
   f1 = self.p1.move
   f2 = self.p2.move
   a1 = self.area1
   a2 = self.area2
   self.assertEqual(f1(a1), 'player1 moves to area1')
   self.assertEqual(f2(a1), 'player2 moves to area1')
   self.assertEqual(f1(a2), 'player1 moves to area2')
   self.assertEqual(f2(a2), 'player2 moves to area2')
   self.assertNotEqual(f1(a1), 'player1 moves to area2')

 def test_take_drop(self):
   take = self.p1.take
   use = self.p1.use
   drop = self.p1.drop
   inven = self.p1.inventory
  
   o1 = self.o
   o2 = self.o2
  
   self.assertEqual(inven, {})
   self.assertEqual(take(o1), 'player1 puts object1 in his inventory')
   self.assertEqual(inven, {'object1':o1})
   self.assertEqual(take(o2), 'player1 puts object2 in his inventory')
   self.assertEqual(inven, {'object1':o1, 'object2':o2})
  
   self.assertEqual(drop('object1'), o1)
   #neesamo objekto dropint neina
   self.assertRaises(TypeError, drop('object1'))
   self.assertEqual(inven, {'object2':o2})
   self.assertEqual(drop('object2'), o2)
   self.assertEqual(inven, {})
  
 def test_use(self):
   p1 = self.p1
   o1 = self.o
   self.assertNotEqual(p1.use('object1'), 'usage1')
   self.assertEqual(p1.use('object1'), 'you do not have object1')
   p1.take(o1)
   self.assertEqual(p1.use('object1'), 'usage1')
  
class TestMudArea(unittest.TestCase):
 def setUp(self):
   self.a1 = MudArea('area1')
   self.a2 = MudArea('area2')
   self.o1 = MudObject('obj1', 'sight1', 'collide1', 'use1')
   self.o2 = MudObject('obj2', 'sight2')
  
 def test_addArea(self):
   #assignmentas turi buti veidrodinis
   self.a1.addArea('north', self.a2)
   self.assertEqual(self.a1.panorama, {'north':self.a2})
   self.assertEqual(self.a2.panorama, {'south':self.a1})
  
 def test_relocate(self):
   self.a1.addArea('north', self.a2)
   self.assertEqual(self.a1.relocate('north'), self.a2)
   self.assertEqual(self.a2.relocate('north'), None)
   self.assertEqual(self.a2.relocate('south'), self.a1)

 def test_addObject(self):
   self.assertEqual(self.a1.objects, {})
   #dropped returninama todel, kad paprastai objectas zaidimo metu addinamas tada, kai playeris dropina ji.
   #kreivai biski, bet ka padarysi :)
   self.assertEqual(self.a1.addObject('something', self.o1), 'something was dropped..')
   self.assertEqual(self.a1.objects, {'something':self.o1})
   self.a1.addObject('other', self.o2)
   self.assertEqual(self.a1.objects, {'something':self.o1, 'other':self.o2})
   self.assertEqual(self.a1.addObject('something_clone', self.o1), 'something_clone was dropped..')
   self.assertEqual(self.a1.objects, {'something':self.o1, 'other':self.o2, 'something_clone':self.o1})
  
 def test_getObject(self):
   self.assertEqual(self.a1.objects, {})
   self.a1.addObject('something', self.o1)
   self.a1.addObject('other', self.o2)
   self.assertEqual(self.a1.getObject('something'), self.o1)
   self.assertEqual(self.a1.objects, {'other':self.o2})
   self.assertEqual(self.a1.getObject('something'), 'there is no something arround!')
  
 def test_touchObject(self):
   self.assertEqual(self.a1.objects, {})
   self.a1.addObject('something', self.o1)
   self.a1.addObject('other', self.o2)
   self.assertEqual(self.a1.touchObject('something'), self.o1.touch())
   self.assertNotEqual(self.a1.touchObject('obj2'), self.o2.touch())
   self.assertEqual(self.a1.touchObject('ass'), 'there is no ass arround!')
  
 def test_view(self):
   view = self.a1.view
   self.assertEqual(view(), 'area1')
   #unindentified object/panorama
   self.assertEqual(view('my brain'), 'nothing.')
  
   self.a1.addObject('my brain', self.o1)
   self.assertEqual(view('my brain'), self.o1.view())
   #padarom dar idomiau. kadangi pridejom my brain, reikia parodyti ir tai..
   self.assertNotEqual(view(), 'area1')
   self.assertEqual(view(), 'area1. There also seems to be: my brain')
   self.a1.addObject('duck', self.o2)
   self.assertEqual(view(), 'area1. There also seems to be: my brain, duck') #', '.join(self.a1.objects)
  
   self.assertEqual(view('north'), 'nothing.')
   self.a1.addArea('north', self.a2)
   self.assertEqual(view('north'), 'area2')
   #kadangi priskyrem area2, turejo atsispindeti ir is ten paziurejus i priesinga north krypti (south), turi matytis area1 viewas
   self.assertEqual(self.a2.view('south'), view())
   #akurat.. matosi :)

class MudCommandTest(unittest.TestCase):
 def setUp(self):
   self.p1 = MudPlayer('player1')
   self.a1 = MudArea('area1')
   self.a2 = MudArea('area2')
   self.o1 = MudObject('obj1', 'sight1', 'collide1', 'use1')
   self.o2 = MudObject('obj2', 'sight2', 'collide2', 'use2')
   self.a2.addObject('bread', self.o1)
   self.a2.addObject('pig', self.o2)
   self.a1.addArea('east', self.a2)   
   self.c = MudCommand(self.p1, self.a1)

 def test_go_move(self):
   #MudArea.go === MudArea.move
   #test wrong way
   self.assertEqual(self.c.go('somewhere'), 'There seems to be nothing that way.')
   #test walk arround
   self.assertEqual(self.c.go('east'), 'player1 moves to area2')
   self.assertEqual(self.c.go('west'), 'player1 moves to area1')
  
 def test_use(self):
   self.assertEqual(self.c.use('bla'), 'you do not have bla')
   #lets go east and take something to test using
   self.c.go('east')
   self.c.take('bread')
   #as bread was only the looks, we know it's actually obj1, so lets use it
   self.assertEqual(self.c.use('obj1'), self.o1.use())
  
 def test_inventory(self):
   self.c.go('east')
   self.c.take('bread')
   self.assertEqual(self.c.inventory(None), 'player1 has: obj1')
  
 def test_help(self):
   self.assertEqual(self.c.help(''), self.c.__doc__)
   self.assertEqual(self.c.help('move'), self.c.move.__doc__)
   self.assertEqual(self.c.help('blabla'), 'help topic not found')

 def test_look(self):
   self.assertEqual(self.c.look(''), 'player1 sees ' + self.a1.view())
   self.assertEqual(self.c.look('at my balls'), 'player1 sees nothing.')
   self.assertEqual(self.c.look('east'), 'player1 sees ' + self.a2.view())
  
 def test_take(self):
   self.c.go('east')
   self.assertEqual(self.c.take('bread'), 'player1 puts obj1 in his inventory')
   self.assertEqual(self.p1.inventory, {'obj1':self.o1})
   #already taken!
   self.assertEqual(self.c.take('bread'), 'you cannot take bread')
  
 def test_touch(self): #perv test.. :)
   self.assertEqual(self.c.touch('self'), 'there is no self arround!')
   self.assertNotEqual(self.c.touch('bread'), self.o1.touch())
   self.c.go('east')
   #kad paliesti reik pirma nueiti
   self.assertEqual(self.c.touch('bread'), self.o1.touch())
  
 def test_drop(self):
   self.assertEqual(self.c.drop('smelly thing'), None)
   self.c.go('east')
   self.c.take('bread')
   self.c.go('west')
   self.assertEqual(self.c.drop('obj1'), 'obj1 was dropped..')
   self.assertEqual(self.a1.objects, {'obj1':self.o1})
  
 def test_say(self):
   self.assertEqual(self.c.say('i love this game'), 'player1 says: i love this game')
   self.assertNotEqual(self.c.say('python sucks'), 'player1 says: that\'s true!')
  
if __name__ == '__main__':
   unittest.main()

To run the game:

python mud.py

To run the tests:

python testengine.py

Damn, I really miss such coding activities :)

Most WTF hacker scene ever

2008-11-24T05:38:00.001+02:00

IT people know how stupid are all the details in those "Hacker" movies. This weekend I've seen The Core, which is not really a Hacker movie, but it sure had the most WTF hacker scene I've ever encountered. Get ready to learn how to get free long distance phone calls for life:

So long Suckr. I mean Flickr.

2008-11-19T17:35:00.001+02:00

A year or two ago I was stupid enough to go through unbelievable pain of Yahoo registration just to open a free Flickr account for keeping some of my photos. I thought Flickr was more usable than the shabby looking Picasa. Obviously I haven't bothered myself to read all the details, so a while ago I found this amusing e-mail in my Yahoo inbox (along with loads of uncaught spam, of course):

Hi somefolk,

You have 192 photos stored on Flickr. Once you hit 200,
you'll need to upgrade to a Flickr Pro account or you'll
only be able to see your most recent 200 photos. Nothing
will be deleted, and if you upgrade, you'll have unlimited
space for all your things.

Perhaps you'd like to purchase a Flickr pro account? Its
unlimited and you get video and stats too!

You'll even get 3 months free for purchasing before 30
September 2008!

You can learn more here:

http://flickr.com/yay/pronow/3mo/

The Flickreenos

*********************************************************************
Please do not reply to this message. This is a service
email related to your use of Flickr. To learn more about
Flickr's use of personal information please read our
Privacy Policy. Flickr is located at Flickr c/o Yahoo!, 701
First Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94089.

Go to Privacy Policy:
http://flickr.com/privacy_policy.gne

Mothr Fuckrs! I was well aware of their 100MB/month limit for free accounts, but 200 photo ceiling was a surprise. Now, with a little help of Migratr I'm a satisfied Picasa user. Hail free software.

And please stop naming things with r in the rear.

Disabling Emoticons in Atlassian Confluence 2.9+

2008-11-17T14:16:00.002+02:00

The quick and dirty way:

1. unpack confluence/WEB-INF/lib/confluence-X.X.jar
2. open plugins/wiki-renderer-components.xml for editing
3. comment out or delete renderer component block where key is "emoticon"
4. pack the file back into jar
5. restart confluence

InputStreamChain

2008-11-11T08:04:00.004+02:00

If you have several Java InputStreams that you want to queue up into a single InputStream object, you can use this:

package com.varaneckas;

import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStream;
import java.util.LinkedList;

/**
 * {@link InputStream} implementation that allows chaining of various 
 * streams for seamless sequential reading
 * 
 * @author Tomas Varaneckas <tomas.varaneckas@gmail.com>
 */
public class InputStreamChain extends InputStream {
    
    /**
     * Input stream chain
     */
    private final LinkedList<InputStream> streams = new LinkedList<InputStream>();
    
    /**
     * Currently active stream
     */
    private InputStream current;
    
    /**
     * Default constructor
     */
    public InputStreamChain() {
        //nothing to do
    }
    
    /**
     * Constructor with an initial stream
     * 
     * @param first Initial InputStream
     */
    public InputStreamChain(final InputStream first) {
        addInputStream(first);
    }
    
    /**
     * Constructor with an array of initial streams
     * 
     * @param streams Array of initial InputStreams
     */
    public InputStreamChain(final InputStream[] streams) {
        for (InputStream stream : streams) {
            addInputStream(stream);
        }
    }

    /**
     * Vararg constructor
     * 
     * @param streams initial input streams
     */
    public InputStreamChain(final InputStream ... streams) {
        for (InputStream stream : streams) {
            addInputStream(stream);
        }
    }

    /**
     * Adds input stream to the end of chain
     * 
     * @param stream InputStream to add to chain
     * @return instance of self (for fluent calls)
     */
    public InputStreamChain addInputStream(final InputStream stream) {
        streams.addLast(stream);
        if (current == null) {
            current = streams.removeFirst();
        }
        return this;
    }

    @Override
    public int read() throws IOException {
        int bit = current.read();
        if (bit == -1 && streams.size() > 0) {
            try {
                current.close();
            } catch (final IOException e) {
                //replace this with a call to logging facility
                e.printStackTrace();
            }
            current = streams.removeFirst();
            bit = read();
        }
        return bit;
    }
    
    @Override
    public int available() throws IOException {
        int available = current.available();
        for (InputStream stream : streams) {
            available += stream.available();
        }
        return available;
    }
    
    @Override
    public void close() throws IOException {
        current.close();
    }
    
    @Override
    public boolean markSupported() {
        return current.markSupported();
    }
    
    @Override
    public synchronized void mark(int i) {
        current.mark(i);
    }
    
    @Override
    public synchronized void reset() throws IOException {
        current.reset();
    }

    @Override
    public long skip(long l) throws IOException {
        return current.skip(l);
    }
    
}

Example code:

InputStream chuck = new ByteArrayInputStream("Chuck ".getBytes());
InputStream norris = new ByteArrayInputStream("Norris".getBytes());
InputStream chuckNorris = new InputStreamChain()
        .addInputStream(chuck)
        .addInputStream(norris);
//will print "Chuck Norris"
System.out.println(new BufferedReader(
        new InputStreamReader(chuckNorris)).readLine());

Have fun!

Software design tips from the creator of C++ programming language

2008-11-06T08:27:00.008+02:00

[1] Know what you are trying to achieve
[2] Keep in mind that software development is a human activity
[3] Proof by analogy is fraud
[4] Have specific and tangible aims
[5] Don’t try technological fixes for sociological problems
[6] Consider the longer term in design and in the treatment of people
[7] There is no lower limit to the size of programs for which it is sensible to design before starting to code
[8] Design processes to encourage feedback
[9] Don’t confuse activity for progress
[10] Don’t generalize beyond what is needed, what you have direct experience with, and what can be tested
[11] Represent concepts as classes
[12] There are properties of a system that should not be represented as a class
[13] Represent hierarchical relationships between concepts as class hierarchies
[14] Actively search for commonality in the concepts of the application and implementation and represent the resulting more general concepts as base classes
[15] Classifications in other domains are not necessarily useful classifications in an inheritance model for an application
[16] Design class hierarchies based on behaviour and invariants
[17] Consider use cases
[18] Consider using CRC cards
[19] Use existing systems as models, as inspiration, and as starting points
[20] Beware of viewgraph engineering
[21] Throw a prototype away before it becomes a burden
[22] Design for change, focusing on flexibility, extensibility, portability, and reuse
[23] Focus on component design
[24] Let each interface represent a concept at a single level of abstraction
[25] Design for stability in the face of change
[26] Make designs stable by making heavily used interfaces minimal, general, and abstract
[27] Keep it small. Don’t add features "just in case"
[28] Always consider alternative representations for a class. If no alternative representation is plausible, the class is probably not representing a clean concept
[29] Repeatedly review and refine both the design and the implementation
[30] Use the best tools available for testing and for analysing the problem, the design, and the implementation
[31] Experiment, analyse, and test as early as possible and as often as possible
[32] Don’t forget about efficiency
[33] Keep the level of formality appropriate to the scale of the project
[34] Make sure that someone is in charge of the overall design
[35] Document, market, and support reusable components
[36] Document aims and principles as well as details
[37] Provide tutorials for new developers as part of the documentation
[38] Reward and encourage reuse of designs, libraries, and classes

I found these great tips in a classic programming book: The C++ Programming Language Third Edition by Bjarne Stroustrup, the creator of C++. If you want to learn C++ or deepen your knowledge, this is The Book.

Stuck on games

2008-10-28T19:49:00.001+02:00

I'm not much of a gamer, but this autumn is something terrible - there are at least three new time wasters for PC that I must get my hands on.

Bully: Scholarship Edition

Fallout 3

and finally, Grand Theft Auto IV

Time to disconnect...

Hawkscope 0.2.0

2008-10-07T05:51:00.011+03:00

This little peace of software has lately become my passion that reminds me of those days when I was programming 16 hours a day 7 days a week. Anyway, here are the highlights for the new Hawkscope 0.2.0:

Size dropped down from 740Kb to 122Kb.

Fixed bugs that prevented writing the configuration file in Windows and reading it in all OS.

Added Quick Access List menu that allows custom folders to be listed on top of all partitions. User home is there by default. This list can contain dynamic variables like Java properties (${user.home}/Desktop) or environmental variables (${$JAVA_HOME}). Read the User Guide to find out how to configure your own Quick Access List.

Floppy drives are ignored by default to avoid annoying device buzz whenever mouse travels over floppy disk entry. This can be turned back on by changing display.floppy property to "1". By the way, same thing can be done with hidden files. They are hidden by default, but there is display.hidden property in [user_home]/.hawkscope.properties.

Improvements in About and Error dialogs. You can now copy nicely formatted bug reports to Clipboard for easy submission. If you use Hawkscope and find anything suspicious, please, copy the report and add new issue, it takes just 10-20 seconds.

You can find more changes in Hawkscope Changelog.

Here's how the new version looks on Windows Vista:

Stay tuned for future improvements that include a full blown plugin system, GUI driven configuration and more.

Windows Server 2008?.. Anyone?.. Please?..

2008-09-29T11:55:00.004+03:00

5 ads mentioning Windows Server 2008 7 times in one screen. Wow. Go Microsoft!

Hawkscope: System Tray File Browser

2008-09-28T16:32:00.010+03:00

I'm happy to announce the first usable release of my new weekend project. It's Hawkscope - a simple productivity tool that allows you to find and open any file or folder in seconds by single-clicking a tray icon and navigating through dynamically generated menus that reflect the contents of your available file systems.

Hawkscope is open source, it's built with Java 1.6, therefore it doesn't run on Mac OS X (for now...), even with SoyLatte JDK. I tested it on Windows (XP and Vista) and Linux (Ubuntu + Gnome). Should work perfectly where Java 6 System Tray and Desktop API are supported.

Here's how it looks on Windows Vista (running inside VirtualBox):

And on my Ubuntu:

You can always download latest release here. Enjoy!

Java 6 on 32-bit Intel Mac

2008-09-26T07:56:00.003+03:00

Dying to have Java 6 on an older, non Core 2 Duo Intel Mac? You should get SoyLatte.

SoyLatte is a functional, X11-based port of the FreeBSD Java 1.6 patchset to Mac OS X Intel machines. SoyLatte is initially focused on supporting Java 6 development; however, the long-term view far more captivating: open development of Java 7 for Mac OS X, with a release available in concert with the official Sun release, supported on all recent versions of Mac OS X.

It lacks some features like system tray support, but overall these folks are doing a way better job than the official Apple Java team.

Crap Overflow

2008-09-24T17:30:00.011+03:00

What happens when two amazing Windows developers like Joel Spolsky, the great creator of FagBugz - a Wassabi driven bug tracker for MBAs and Jeff Atwood, a... Umm... Nerd who has a popular blog that is full of crap but did nothing else in his life join forces? Yes, you get Crap Overflow. A social networking wiki blog forum failure full of ~~dorks~~ career programmers who walk around and mumble "Yupp.. I know this one.. Yupp.. Bla blah blah.. Yupp.. Oh yeaaaahh... Another badge is mine!.. I'll go fill my TPS report now... Yeaaahhhh..."

Let me guess. The site is built with ASP.NET and hosted on Windows server. I bet most visitors use Windows Vista + Internet Explorer to browse that piece of shit. By the way, Joel, why didn't you use your awesome Wassabi? It has to be like so better than ASP.NET, like seriously.

There's more. The average user... And an average suggestion by the community for the makers...

What can I say. Great site folks! Please make this great service cost at least $19/month when your public beta is over. Please, really.

Eclipse Template: Singleton Pattern

2008-09-18T22:47:00.008+03:00

Are you writing your Java classes as Singletons quite often? Use this Eclipse template and make any class a singleton in two seconds:

Setup

Go to Window -> Preferences -> Java -> Editor -> Templates. Create New:

Code for copy paste:

private static final ${enclosing_type} instance = new ${enclosing_type}();
private ${enclosing_type}() {}
public static ${enclosing_type} getInstance() {
    return instance;
}

Action

Type "single" or "singleton", hit Content Assist shortcut key (ctrl+space by default), then enter:

And there you go - a singleton in two seconds (actual time may vary on your typing and CPU speed).

You may want to use a different Singleton implementation. Check out Java Singleton: The Proper Way for a good example.

Add loggers to your Java code in seconds using Eclipse Templates

2008-09-01T07:18:00.002+03:00

Custom Eclipse Templates can greatly increase your productivity by automating daily development. For instance, instead of creating Apache Commons Logging loggers by hand, you can do this:

Setup

Go to Window -> Preferences -> Java -> Editor -> Templates. Create New:

Action

Type "log", hit Content Assist shortcut key (ctrl+space by default), then enter:

Hit Ctrl+Shift+O to import Log and LogFactory:

Saves hell of a time in the long run.

Geek Sports: Power Ball

2008-07-30T18:45:00.007+03:00

A while ago I've bought myself a new toy which is actually a quite competitive workout tool. Behold, the Power Ball Gyroscope:

The idea behind this ball is that when you twist it in your hand, the inner ball is spinning and accumulating force that you generated. The stronger you twist, the heavier the ball gets.

I'm spinning my power ball whenever I get a spare minute or two, it's great during long walks and when you want to kill some time. The ball actually has benefits for your health, especially if you're a geek like me who spends most of his day banging a keyboard. A short list of things that Power Ball prevents:

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS)
Arthritis
Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI)
Wrist Injury / Break
Tendonitis
Tennis Elbow / Golf Elbow

See how it works:

There are various versions, simple (the one I've got), with speedometers, with neon lights, etc. Make a choice and have both fun and good health!

But heed my warning. It's damn addictive...

Slap your Java code hard with Maven and PMD

2008-07-25T09:47:00.011+03:00

How good you think your code is? How can you be sure it's optimal, bug and bullet proof? Unit Tests? In case the coverage is good, they will tell if your code works, but will it tell if and where your code sucks in general? Let's get down to business.

As Maven is used de facto for Java builds, I assume you're using it. You may have heard of PMD, but have you tried it? If you have, did you know that it has a nice Maven Plugin? A quick way to integrate it:

Add the following to your pom.xml. Sadly, default check rulesets are too friendly, so you may want to try my configuration (even the "too hardcore" block):



 
 
   
     
       org.apache.maven.plugins
       maven-jxr-plugin
     
     
       org.apache.maven.plugins
       maven-pmd-plugin
       
         
           rulesets/basic.xml
           rulesets/braces.xml
           rulesets/clone.xml
           rulesets/codesize.xml
           rulesets/coupling.xml
           rulesets/favorites.xml
           rulesets/finalizers.xml
           rulesets/imports.xml
           rulesets/junit.xml
           rulesets/migrating_to_15.xml
           rulesets/optimizations.xml
           rulesets/typeresolution.xml
           rulesets/unusedcode.xml
           rulesets/strings.xml
                     
         
         true
         true
         utf-8
         5
         20
         1.5

To generate a report, simply run:


mvn pmd:pmd

You may want to build Java cross reference for links to source code to work:


mvn jxr:jxr

Finally, open the report and see how naughty the code is:


target/site/pmd.html

Watch out for Cyclomatic Complexity!

I Hate Oracle Stuff

2008-07-24T13:32:00.005+03:00

Want a mug with this on it?

Or a T-Shirt?

Get yours here

Best of Jargon File

2008-07-18T17:28:00.012+03:00

My favorite definitions from Jargon File (AKA, The New Hacker's Dictionary).

brute force and ignorance: n.

A popular design technique at many software houses — brute force coding unrelieved by any knowledge of how problems have been previously solved in elegant ways. Dogmatic adherence to design methodologies tends to encourage this sort of thing. Characteristic of early larval stage programming; unfortunately, many never outgrow it. Often abbreviated BFI: “Gak, they used a bubble sort! That's strictly from BFI.” Compare bogosity. A very similar usage is said to be mainstream in Great Britain.

BOFH: //, n.

[common] Acronym, Bastard Operator From Hell. A system administrator with absolutely no tolerance for lusers. “You say you need more filespace? Seems to me you have plenty left...” Many BOFHs (and others who would be BOFHs if they could get away with it) hang out in the newsgroup alt.sysadmin.recovery, although there has also been created a top-level newsgroup hierarchy (bofh.*) of their own.

Several people have written stories about BOFHs. The set usually considered canonical is by Simon Travaglia and may be found at the Bastard Home Page. BOFHs and BOFH wannabes hang out on scary devil monastery and wield LARTs.

buried treasure: n.

A surprising piece of code found in some program. While usually not wrong, it tends to vary from crufty to bletcherous, and has lain undiscovered only because it was functionally correct, however horrible it is. Used sarcastically, because what is found is anything but treasure. Buried treasure almost always needs to be dug up and removed. “I just found that the scheduler sorts its queue using bubble sort! Buried treasure!”

code police: n.

[by analogy with George Orwell's ‘thought police’] A mythical team of Gestapo-like storm troopers that might burst into one's office and arrest one for violating programming style rules. May be used either seriously, to underline a claim that a particular style violation is dangerous, or ironically, to suggest that the practice under discussion is condemned mainly by anal-retentive weenies. “Dike out that goto or the code police will get you!” The ironic usage is perhaps more common.

cow orker: n.

[Usenet] n. fortuitous typo for co-worker, widely used in Usenet, with perhaps a hint that orking cows is illegal. This term was popularized by Scott Adams (the creator of Dilbert) but already appears in the January 1996 version of the scary devil monastery FAQ, and has been traced back to a 1989 sig block. Compare hing, grilf, filk, newsfroup.

eyeball search: n.,v.

To look for something in a mass of code or data with one's own native optical sensors, as opposed to using some sort of pattern matching software like grep or any other automated search tool. Also called a vgrep; compare vdiff.

gang bang: n.

The use of large numbers of loosely coupled programmers in an attempt to wedge a great many features into a product in a short time. Though there have been memorable gang bangs (e.g., that over-the-weekend assembler port mentioned in Steven Levy's Hackers), and large numbers of loosely-coupled programmers operating in bazaar mode can do very useful work when they're not on a deadline, most are perpetrated by large companies trying to meet unrealistic deadlines; the inevitable result is enormous buggy masses of code entirely lacking in orthogonality. When market-driven managers make a list of all the features the competition has and assign one programmer to implement each, the probability of maintaining a coherent (or even functional) design goes to epsilon. See also firefighting, Mongolian Hordes technique, Conway's Law.

Guido: /gwee´do/, /khwee´do/

Without qualification, Guido van Rossum (author of Python). Note that Guido answers to English /gwee´do/ but in Dutch it's /khwee´do/. Mythically, Guido's most important attribute besides Python itself is Guido's time machine, a device he is reputed to possess because of the unnerving frequency with which user requests for new features have been met with the response “I just implemented that last night...”. See BDFL.

guiltware: /gilt´weir/, n.

1. A piece of freeware decorated with a message telling one how long and hard the author worked on it and intimating that one is a no-good freeloader if one does not immediately send the poor suffering martyr gobs of money.

2. A piece of shareware that works.

hired gun: n.

A contract programmer, as opposed to a full-time staff member. All the connotations of this term suggested by innumerable spaghetti Westerns are intentional.

hyperspace: /hi:´per·spays/, n.

A memory location that is far away from where the program counter should be pointing, especially a place that is inaccessible because it is not even mapped in by the virtual-memory system. “Another core dump — looks like the program jumped off to hyperspace somehow.” (Compare jump off into never-never land.) This usage is from the SF notion of a spaceship jumping into hyperspace, that is, taking a shortcut through higher-dimensional space — in other words, bypassing this universe. The variant east hyperspace is recorded among CMU and Bliss hackers.

I didn't change anything!: interj.

An aggrieved cry often heard as bugs manifest during a regression test. The canonical reply to this assertion is “Then it works just the same as it did before, doesn't it?” See also one-line fix. This is also heard from applications programmers trying to blame an obvious applications problem on an unrelated systems software change, for example a divide-by-0 fault after terminals were added to a network. Usually, their statement is found to be false. Upon close questioning, they will admit some major restructuring of the program that shouldn't have broken anything, in their opinion, but which actually hosed the code completely.

A contract programmer, as opposed to a full-time staff member. All the connotations of this term suggested by innumerable spaghetti Westerns are intentional.

KIBO: /ki:´boh/<

1. [acronym] Knowledge In, Bullshit Out. A summary of what happens whenever valid data is passed through an organization (or person) that deliberately or accidentally disregards or ignores its significance. Consider, for example, what an advertising campaign can do with a product's actual specifications. Compare GIGO; see also SNAFU principle.

Macintrash: /mak´in·trash`/, n.

The Apple Macintosh, as described by a hacker who doesn't appreciate being kept away from the real computer by the interface. The term maggotbox has been reported in regular use in the Research Triangle area of North Carolina. Compare Macintoy. See also beige toaster, WIMP environment, point-and-drool interface, drool-proof paper, user-friendly.

meatspace: /meet´spays/, n.

The physical world, where the meat lives — as opposed to cyberspace. Hackers are actually more willing to use this term than ‘cyberspace’, because it's not speculative — we already have a running meatspace implementation (the universe). Compare RL.

Mongolian Hordes technique: n.

[poss. from the Sixties counterculture expression Mongolian clusterfuck for a public orgy] Development by gang bang. Implies that large numbers of inexperienced programmers are being put on a job better performed by a few skilled ones (but see bazaar). Also called Chinese Army technique; see also Brooks's Law.

nipple mouse: n.

Var. clit mouse, clitoris Common term for the pointing device used on IBM ThinkPads and a few other laptop computers. The device, which sits between the ‘g’ and ‘h’ keys on the keyboard, indeed resembles a rubber nipple intended to be tweaked by a forefinger. Many hackers consider these superior to the glide pads found on most laptops, which are harder to control precisely.

optimism: n.

What a programmer is full of after fixing the last bug and before discovering the next last bug. Fred Brooks's book The Mythical Man-Month (See Brooks's Law) contains the following paragraph that describes this extremely well:

All programmers are optimists. Perhaps this modern sorcery especially attracts those who believe in happy endings and fairy godmothers. Perhaps the hundreds of nitty frustrations drive away all but those who habitually focus on the end goal. Perhaps it is merely that computers are young, programmers are younger, and the young are always optimists. But however the selection process works, the result is indisputable: “This time it will surely run,” or “I just found the last bug.”.

pseudosuit: /soo´doh·s[y]oot`/, n.

A suit wannabee; a hacker who has decided that he wants to be in management or administration and begins wearing ties, sport coats, and (shudder!) suits voluntarily. It's his funeral. See also lobotomy.

RTFS: /R·T·F·S/

[Unix] 1. imp. Abbreviation for ‘Read The Fucking Source’. Variant form of RTFM, used when the problem at hand is not necessarily obvious and not answerable from the manuals — or the manuals are not yet written and maybe never will be. For even trickier situations, see RTFB. Unlike RTFM, the anger inherent in RTFS is not usually directed at the person asking the question, but rather at the people who failed to provide adequate documentation.

Saturday-night special: n.

[from police slang for a cheap handgun] A quick-and-dirty program or feature kluged together during off hours, under a deadline, and in response to pressure from a salescritter. Such hacks are dangerously unreliable, but all too often sneak into a production release after insufficient review.

shotgun debugging: n.

The software equivalent of Easter egging; the making of relatively undirected changes to software in the hope that a bug will be perturbed out of existence. This almost never works, and usually introduces more bugs.

space-cadet keyboard: n.

Long one, but a must-see: http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/S/space-cadet-keyboard.html

Spinning Pizza of Death: n.

[OS X; common] The quartered-circle busy indicator on Mac OS X versions before 10.2, after which it was replaced by a sort of rainbow pinwheel thingy. It was analogous to the Microsoft Windows hourglass, but OS X 10.0's legendary slowness under the Aqua toolkit made this term rather more evocative. See Death, X of.

stealth manager: n.

[Corporate DP] A manager that appears out of nowhere, promises undeliverable software to unknown end users, and vanishes before the programming staff realizes what has happened. See smoke and mirrors.

STFW: imp., /S·T·F·W/

[Usenet] Common abbreviation for “Search The Fucking Web”, a suggestion that what you're asking for is a query better handled by a search engine than a human being. Usage is common and exactly parallel to both senses of RTFM. A politer equivalent is GIYF.

suit: n.

1. Ugly and uncomfortable ‘business clothing’ often worn by non-hackers. Invariably worn with a ‘tie’, a strangulation device that partially cuts off the blood supply to the brain. It is thought that this explains much about the behavior of suit-wearers. Compare droid.

2. A person who habitually wears suits, as distinct from a techie or hacker. See pointy-haired, burble, management, Stupids, SNAFU principle, PHB, and brain-damaged.

sysape: /sys´ayp/, n.

A rather derogatory term for a computer operator; a play on sysop common at sites that use the banana hierarchy of problem complexity (see one-banana problem).

top-post: n., v.

[common] To put the newly-added portion of an email or Usenet response before the quoted part, as opposed to the more logical sequence of quoted portion first with original following. The problem with this practice is neatly summed up by the following FAQ entry:

A: No.
Q: Should I include quotations after my reply?

This term is generally used pejoratively with the implication that the offending person is a newbie, a Microsoft addict (Microsoft mail tools produce a similar format by default), or simply a common-and-garden-variety idiot.

voodoo programming: n.

[from George Bush Sr.'s “voodoo economics”] 1. The use by guess or cookbook of an obscure or hairy system, feature, or algorithm that one does not truly understand. The implication is that the technique may not work, and if it doesn't, one will never know why. Almost synonymous with black magic, except that black magic typically isn't documented and nobody understands it. Compare magic, deep magic, heavy wizardry, rain dance, cargo cult programming, wave a dead chicken, SCSI voodoo.

2. Things programmers do that they know shouldn't work but they try anyway, and which sometimes actually work, such as recompiling everything.

Wintendo: /win·ten´doh/, n.

[Play on “Nintendo”] A PC running the Windows operating system kept primarily for the purpose of viewing multimedia and playing games. The implication is that the speaker uses a Linux or *BSD box for everything else.

zipperhead: n.

[IBM] A person with a closed mind.

What is Eclipse Mylyn anyway?

2008-07-16T13:54:00.004+03:00

Since the release of Eclipse Europa, there was one new big feature - Mylyn. I was sceptic about it, besides it made the IDE slower, so I've kept removing it without getting to know what the hell is Mylyn anyway? After seeing this video I'm about to give it another try. If you're using Eclipse without Mylyn, you must see the video below:

Oracle Exception Handling - Stack Trace

2008-07-10T17:35:00.017+03:00

Oracle PL/SQL is definitely the worst programming language I've ever encountered. Some time ago I thought that PHP was the worst, but well, things change.

I've been searching for the source of a weird CLOB related bug in a big pile of PL/SQL ~~sh..~~ mess for a couple of days till I got fed up and decided to find a way to get the stack trace or at least the last line of code where the error was triggered from. Would you believe that before Oracle 10g there was no normal way to get the trace? Here's some Daily WTF material from the official PL/SQL User's Guide and Reference.

----- WTF EXCERPT START -----

Using Locator Variables to Identify Exception Locations

Using one exception handler for a sequence of statements can mask the statement that caused an error:

BEGIN
   SELECT ...
   SELECT ...
EXCEPTION
   WHEN NO_DATA_FOUND THEN ...
      -- Which SELECT statement caused the error?
END;

Normally, this is not a problem. But, if the need arises, you can use a locator variable to track statement execution, as follows:

DECLARE
   stmt INTEGER := 1;  -- designates 1st SELECT statement
BEGIN
   SELECT ...
   stmt := 2;  -- designates 2nd SELECT statement
   SELECT ...
EXCEPTION
   WHEN NO_DATA_FOUND THEN
      INSERT INTO errors VALUES ('Error in statement ' || stmt);
END;

----- WTF EXCERPT END -----

Yes, they even have a name for this. Locator Variables. Damn. I can't decide whether to laugh or to cry...

On a good note, since Oracle 10g you can use DBMS_UTILITY.FORMAT_ERROR_BACKTRACE function to get a string representation of stack trace with procedure names and code line numbers. They still forgot to add this into the "Handling PL/SQL Errors" section of their manual...

So, here's how you get the stack trace:

declare
  x number;
begin
  x := 1 / 0;
  dbms_output.put_line(x);
exception
when others then
  dbms_output.put_line(SQLERRM);
  dbms_output.put_line(dbms_utility.format_error_backtrace);
end;

Output:

ORA-01476: divisor is equal to zero
ORA-06512: at line 5

And it took them only 10 versions to implement.

EuroPython 2008 - Day 3

2008-07-09T20:53:00.017+03:00

The third and final day of EuroPython 2008 started with a little bit of rocket science by Michael Meinel from German Aerospace Center. He talked about FlowSimulator, which is a Python-controlled framework to unify massive parallel CFD workflows. Interesting point was that they used SWIG to allow Python to control code written in C/C++, so basically Python was a glue code.

Second talk I attended was called "Small team, big demands? - Use the batteries included" by Jussi Rasinmäki. It was a tale of a software project which started with C, failed miserably and finally ended with Python. The outcome was twice as fast as C code with tenfold smaller code base. C can be slow if your code is really really bad.

I went there for the "Batteries Included" line, which really was as simple as this:

There was one thing that I believe you should avoid in your code, and hell, in public presentations too. I mean a function named Age_pine_hemib_h_KalliovirtaTokola. Seriously, WTF?

Next, Raymond D. Hettinger gave a good talk on "Core Python Containers - Under The Hood". Well, before that he managed to amuse the audience with the usual behavior of Windows in his laptop. Why the hell anyone would use Windows here anyway?

However, Raymond revealed some useful Python internals and told us how to make optimal use of the collections.

Here's the moral of his story:

Last talk I've attended in this year's EuroPython was called "Functional Programming with Python, or Why It's Good To Be Lazy?" by Adam Byrtek. It was a great talk that covered the concept of functional programming, which went down to Pythonic functional programming features - map/filter/reduce and lambda functions.

Sadly I had some errands to run, so I couldn't make it to the Lightning Talks...

Hopefully I'll see you all in EuroPython 2009, which is going to be held in Birmingham UK.

EuroPython 2008 - Day 2

2008-07-08T20:10:00.041+03:00

I took way too much coffee during breaks on Day 1, that kept me awake till 3AM, so it was a tough day. Nevertheless, today was better than Day 1. Let's see where I've been.

Designing Large-Scale Applications in Python by Marc-André Lemburg basically was a beginner oriented tutorial on how to do enterprisey stuff properly. It got more serious later on when he started mentioning concrete patterns and techniques. It's good that this conference has a (so so, but still) working WI-FI that kept me entertained till the next session. It's good to chew on some RSS feeds in the morning.

Then Steve Alexander from Canonical gave an inspiring talk on how they developed a very large python web application LEAN style. Launchpad to be exact. One of the greatest points was the use of pre-commit continuous integration, which ensures the developers that trunk is never broken. Also, he mentioned that canonical is hiring ~20 python developers (see their ad in my post about EuroPython 2008 Day 1).

Cool stuff with Jython by Frank Wierzbicki (from Sun) and Jim Baker was somehow boring and Jim's words "we write Java so you don't have to broke my heart, so I got back to reading RSS feeds". Frank was bragging about new hot NetBeans refactoring, which Eclipse has since.. uh.. forever? Read more on this topic in this great post. Dear pythonists, throw away your NetBeans CDs and visit eclipse.org instead.

There were a few Lightning Talks worth noticing.

Here's the full list.

I liked Jure Vrščaj's talk on Remote Module Importing where he showed us how to implement custom Python path resolvers that can seek modules from internet or source control repositories.

Mikhail Kashkin introduced a better style of Python programming - The Drunken Monkey style. Thumbs up for this one. :)

It was amazing to see how Holger Krekel unit-tested JavaScript with pytest.

Geoffrey French deserves a medal for his very alpha code editor gSym Prototype, which visualizes Python code with as AST and adds a Lisp View (with lots and lots of braces that all pythonists just love).

Here's a screenshot of gSym visualizing some mathematical functions.

Finally, a charismatic professor from Sweden, Hans Rosling, made a totally mind blowing keynote called "Code that make sense of the world". It can be basically rephrased as "Instead of letting people generate images from raw statistics in their head we should generate images in front of their heads".

It was one of the best talks I've seen in my life. This 60 year old professor knows people like Larry Page and Bill Gates, he knew Fidel Castro he's also good at GTA 2. Possibly this has something to do with Fidel Castro :).

Some more pictures from his talk...

Here's a great point on how data should be represented to the public.

And the following symptom that technical people tend to have made the audience laugh and applaud.

Most of what he presented can be seen in the following video. You HAVE to see it.

One day to go. See you tomorrow!

EuroPython 2008 - Day 1

2008-07-07T17:23:00.039+03:00

It's the end of first day of EuroPython 2008, a good time to overlook what I've seen.

Right after the keynote, which was short and uplifting, I've headed to the first session - Dynamic Compilation in Python and Jython by Tobias Ivarsson and Jim Baker. It was long and boring, but still inspiring. They looked into things like bytecode versus AST manipulation, introduced nice tools like pyassem. It's nice to see that Java and JVM is a hot topic in smart programmer communities. I consider Python community as one of the smartest people in software development.

Then I went to listen to my native speaker Ignas Mikalajūnas from Programmers of Vilnius. He told Why he Wants Us to Use Eggs. I would disagree with saying "Eggs are to Pythons as Jars are to Java...". It's more like "Eggs may some day be to Pythons as Maven is for Java". For now Eggs look scary and unstable especially with things like Known Good Set (compare it to Maven Repository). Though I would definitely want to use it for Python projects. Better than nothing.

Then I made a mistake by visiting John Pinner's "Python at Home" talk. He was going to tell how he automated his boiler at home with use of Python. I expected a lot from that, instead I've seen some photos of a boiler wired to a motherboard and some source code like "boiler.ignition(On)" and "boiler.ignition(Off)". I would recommend John (and all the other speakers) not to dig deep into source code but concentrate on big picture instead.

I didn't want to go to vendor pitch sessions or things that does not sound interesting (Advanced Searching for Plone and stuff), so my choice was the Barcamp / Open Space, where Tommi Virtanen was giving a talk on Twisted. If you want messaging in Python, do it in Twisted. The guy gave a great quote of Torvalds Linus, which sounded something like "If you have to use debugging - you already have problems. Take a step back and review what could be wrong". It definitely was a great session.

I was going to visit "Discouraging the Use of Python" next, but I was tired and didn't want to be discouraged, so I've headed home to write all this down.

Most of attendees I've spoken to admit that last year's EuroPython was way better than this. But well, two more days to go.

Now for some fun moments:
Canonical was hiring Django developers and senior engineers.

Until the epic failure of their campaign:

All pythonistas got a copy of NetBeans 6.1 and Open Solaris (go Sun! :)) along with geeky looking Bazaar T-Shirt.

And of course, loads of free coffee, snacks and socializing!

See You there at Day 2!

Update

Yesterday I forgot to mention that Guido Van Rossum did not participate in the conference like the last year. I did not participate in his video keynote either...

Meet my new coffee mug

2008-07-05T16:29:00.011+03:00

Being the ever-coffee-hungry bastard requires serious gear, so I've got myself a very special container for it at the local store. Beware, the Smart Café Hot Cafetiere Mug:

Looks sweet, right? Here are some specs:

Double walled, keeps tea/coffee hot for longer
Does not burn hands when holding it
Made of strong plastic material - light weight and unbreakable
Built-in mini french press!

I'll never want to drink my fuel from an ordinary ceramic mug again. Though nothing is perfect, this one lacks a built-in auto-clean button.

There was no trace of it at Amazon, only a few similar ones.

Alright, enough blabber. Time for my coffee break...

Live happily with online services

2008-07-03T19:15:00.005+03:00

Live happily with any operating system. Use as many computers as you want. Forget backups. Use Firefox. And use FEBE for a roaming Firefox profile.

CMS battle: Drupal vs Joomla vs Custom Programming

2008-07-02T14:51:00.005+03:00

In modern Content Management System (CMS) world there are two major figures - Joomla (descendant of Mambo CMS ) and Drupal. They both are open source and have large comunities with enormous amounts of extensions and themes. It's hard to choose which one to use without trying them out. As usually, there are more options - home grown custom programming or even building your own CMS (which I was once stupid enough to do). Programming from scratch is always fun and beneficial for your skills, however, if you need things up and running in no time or you don't do (or don't want to do) any programming, using a CMS is the way to go.

If you are digging for CMS comparisons and trying to decide which one is best for you, here is a quick and dirty answer - go for Drupal, you won't regret it.

Why?

After test-driving them both I've came to these conclusions:

Joomla is bloated, Drupal is minimal
Drupal is easy to use and intuitive, Joomla is confusing

That was more than enough for a minimalist like me.

Here are some statistics from CMS Matrix for a more detailed comparison. It shows that Drupal is extremely modular and Joomla has a heavy core, thus a terrible architecture. That means Joomla is hard to extend and messy under the hood. Drupal, on the other hand, looks beautiful.

Product	Drupal 6.2	Joomla! 1.5.3
Last Updated	4/10/2008	5/31/2008
System Requirements	Drupal	Joomla!
Application Server	PHP 4.3.5+	Any that supports PHP (Apache recommended)
Approximate Cost	Free	Free
Database	MySQL, Postgres	MySQL
License	GNU GPL	GNU/GPL v2
Operating System	Any	Any
Programming Language	PHP	PHP
Root Access	No	No
Shell Access	No	No
Web Server	Apache, IIS	Apache
Security	Drupal	Joomla!
Audit Trail	Yes	No
Captcha	Free Add On	Free Add On
Content Approval	Yes	Yes
Email Verification	Yes	Yes
Granular Privileges	Yes	No
Kerberos Authentication	No	No
LDAP Authentication	Free Add On	Yes
Login History	Yes	Yes
NIS Authentication	No	No
NTLM Authentication	Free Add On	No
Pluggable Authentication	Yes	Yes
Problem Notification	No	No
Sandbox	No	No
Session Management	Yes	Yes
SMB Authentication	No	No
SSL Compatible	Yes	Yes
SSL Logins	No	Yes
SSL Pages	No	Yes
Versioning	Yes	No
Support	Drupal	Joomla!
Certification Program	No	No
Code Skeletons	Yes	No
Commercial Manuals	Yes	Yes
Commercial Support	Yes	Yes
Commercial Training	Yes	Yes
Developer Community	Yes	Yes
Online Help	Yes	Yes
Pluggable API	Yes	Yes
Professional Hosting	Yes	Yes
Professional Services	Yes	Yes
Public Forum	Yes	Yes
Public Mailing List	Yes	No
Test Framework	Free Add On	Yes
Third-Party Developers	Yes	Yes
Users Conference	Yes	Yes
Ease of Use	Drupal	Joomla!
Drag-N-Drop Content	Free Add On	No
Email To Discussion	Free Add On	Free Add On
Friendly URLs	Yes	Yes
Image Resizing	Free Add On	Yes
Macro Language	Free Add On	Yes
Mass Upload	Free Add On	No
Prototyping	Limited	Yes
Server Page Language	Yes	Yes
Site Setup Wizard	Limited	No
Spell Checker	Free Add On	No
Style Wizard	Limited	No
Subscriptions	Free Add On	No
Template Language	Limited	Yes
UI Levels	No	Yes
Undo	Limited	No
WYSIWYG Editor	Free Add On	Yes
Zip Archives	No	No
Performance	Drupal	Joomla!
Advanced Caching	Yes	Yes
Database Replication	Limited	No
Load Balancing	Yes	Yes
Page Caching	Yes	Yes
Static Content Export	No	No
Management	Drupal	Joomla!
Advertising Management	Free Add On	Yes
Asset Management	Yes	Yes
Clipboard	No	No
Content Scheduling	Free Add On	Yes
Content Staging	Free Add On	No
Inline Administration	Yes	Yes
Online Administration	Yes	Yes
Package Deployment	No	No
Sub-sites / Roots	Yes	Yes
Themes / Skins	Yes	Yes
Trash	No	Yes
Web Statistics	Yes	Yes
Web-based Style/Template Management	Yes	Yes
Web-based Translation Management	Yes	Free Add On
Workflow Engine	Limited	No
Interoperability	Drupal	Joomla!
Content Syndication (RSS)	Yes	Yes
FTP Support	Limited	Yes
iCal	Free Add On	No
UTF-8 Support	Yes	Yes
WAI Compliant	Limited	No
WebDAV Support	No	No
XHTML Compliant	Yes	No
Flexibility	Drupal	Joomla!
CGI-mode Support	Yes	Yes
Content Reuse	Limited	Yes
Extensible User Profiles	Yes	Yes
Interface Localization	Yes	Yes
Metadata	Yes	Yes
Multi-lingual Content	Yes	Free Add On
Multi-lingual Content Integration	Free Add On	Free Add On
Multi-Site Deployment	Yes	Free Add On
URL Rewriting	Yes	Yes
Built-in Applications	Drupal	Joomla!
Blog	Yes	Yes
Chat	Free Add On	Free Add On
Classifieds	Free Add On	Free Add On
Contact Management	Free Add On	Yes
Data Entry	Free Add On	Free Add On
Database Reports	No	Free Add On
Discussion / Forum	Yes	Free Add On
Document Management	Limited	Free Add On
Events Calendar	Free Add On	Free Add On
Events Management	Free Add On	Free Add On
Expense Reports	No	Free Add On
FAQ Management	Yes	Yes
File Distribution	Free Add On	Free Add On
Graphs and Charts	No	Free Add On
Groupware	Free Add On	Free Add On
Guest Book	Free Add On	Free Add On
Help Desk / Bug Reporting	Free Add On	Free Add On
HTTP Proxy	No	No
In/Out Board	No	No
Job Postings	Free Add On	Free Add On
Link Management	Free Add On	Yes
Mail Form	Free Add On	Yes
Matrix	No	No
My Page / Dashboard	Free Add On	No
Newsletter	Free Add On	Free Add On
Photo Gallery	Free Add On	Free Add On
Polls	Yes	Yes
Product Management	Free Add On	Yes
Project Tracking	Free Add On	Free Add On
Search Engine	Yes	Yes
Site Map	Free Add On	Free Add On
Stock Quotes	Free Add On	No
Surveys	Free Add On	Free Add On
Syndicated Content (RSS)	Yes	Yes
Tests / Quizzes	Free Add On	Free Add On
Time Tracking	Free Add On	No
User Contributions	Yes	Yes
Weather	Free Add On	No
Web Services Front End	Limited	Yes
Wiki	Free Add On	Free Add On
Commerce	Drupal	Joomla!
Affiliate Tracking	Free Add On	Free Add On
Inventory Management	Free Add On	Free Add On
Pluggable Payments	Free Add On	Free Add On
Pluggable Shipping	Free Add On	Free Add On
Pluggable Tax	Free Add On	Free Add On
Point of Sale	No	Free Add On
Shopping Cart	Free Add On	Free Add On
Subscriptions	Free Add On	Free Add On
Wish Lists	Free Add On	Free Add On

Hope this helps to make a choice.

Lithuania hacks up Firefox 3 downloads to boost the World Record

2008-06-19T08:40:00.006+03:00

You must know that Mozilla is going for the World Record with Firefox 3 downloads.

I was amazed to discover that Lithuania (my homeland) has downloaded Firefox 3 over 320,000+ times! We have 3,000,000 people living here, that means over 10% of citizens must have downloaded Firefox 3. That would be insane.

Some countries we beat:

Canada - 291,000+
Russia - 121,000+
Australia - 160,000+
Brazil - 230,000+
India - 96,000+

And of course, our Baltic neighbours:
Latvia - 12,000+
Estonia - 13,000+

I'm so proud to be a part of this small cheating nation. ;)

Enterprise Journeymen and Free Souls

2008-06-11T17:58:00.017+03:00

Why do people work for big corporations? Why do they strive for things like career, bigger cubicle, higher salary? Most of them are even proud and happy of what they have achieved, even though they are wasting the greater deal of their productive time as slaves to someone who eats the cake and shares the crumbs.

I call these people Average Enterprise Journeymen (AEJ). In fact, I'm AEJ myself, but at least I'm not proud of that.

What is the opposite of an AEJ? It's a Free Soul who is not afraid of risk and loss, who does not value stable mid-average results but seeks for great heights.

Why can't AEJ become a Free Soul? Perhaps because Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs forbids that. People want to feel safe and comfortable, yet, risks break the security down.

A Free Soul, on the other hand, sacrifices safety and belonging for self esteem and actualization, with high chances of screwing up and hitting the bottom. But what are the chances to win for someone who is even afraid to try? What is the worst that can happen? The worst is that you'll waste 50% of your productive lifetime as a corporate slave.

Many people tend to stick to their jobs for years, to build up their work reputation, so they can get a better job, higher position.

High positions in enterprise hierarchy does not make you less of an AEJ. The only way to remain a Free Soul is to be The Owner.

Don't work for anyone but yourself and let others work for you.

It's easy to say and many people understand this, but why don't they do a thing to change their lives? Is it because they are happy to be corporate slaves wearing uncomfortable suits and ties? No, it's because of FEAR.

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.

However, it's not that easy. Fear leads to denial, which is similar to what smokers say when they give arguments why they don't want to quit smoking. Positive motivation is all you need to make miracles.

To build up my motivation, I'm currently reading a great book - The 4 Hour Work Week.

It has some really clever and uplifting points that will make your brain shift. If you will not refuse to accept the ideas it offers, this book may be one of those that can change your fate. I certainly hope it will help me to become a Free Soul. This may help you too, unless your denial and skepticism won't allow you to.

I feel sorry for all those who have to wear those uncomfortable suits and ties on daily basis. Honestly.

Occasional Eye Candy

2008-06-10T07:40:00.001+03:00

That's how much you can see in a single weekend.

The Death of Software Development

2008-06-04T08:02:00.011+03:00

According to Google Trends software development is slowly dying. People are not interested in it anymore.

Programming:

Software development:

Programming languages:
java c++ python php ruby

Noticed that India is #1 in all these queries? Most of the rest of total search volume comes from some other third world regions. It seems programming is poor man's activity. Are we the coal miners of the 21st century?

Update
My friend Viktoras Agejevas has found a logical explanation why this could be happening.

When to Refactor and when not to

2008-06-03T07:10:00.002+03:00

Refactoring is one of the key processes in software development. It maintains "health" and "beauty" of the source code. Question is, how to tell when to refactor. Here is my list signs which whisper that refactoring may be necessary:

Messy, ugly, spaghetti, freaky, wrong looking code.
Copy-pasted code. Slight modifications do not count.
Long list of method parameters.
Compilation gives warnings. Keep them at zero.
API docs generation gives warnings. Keep them at zero as well.
Method is too long. My sane limit is around 20-40 lines of code.
Class gets big and hard to maintain.
Too many if/else statements, especially nested ones.
Use of "switch" statement.
Large blocks of code inside a control statement (if/else, while, for, etc..).
Code looks that it could be tighter and more efficient.
Class has different responsibilities.
Over-engineered architecture.

Final decision whether to refactor or not goes from the heart and sanity brain check. When in doubt, ask for your colleague's opinion.

If you're looking for resources related to software refactoring, you should definitely check out this great classic book by Martin Fowler, Kent Beck & co.:

They also have good online resource for the book with extremely useful Catalog of Refactorings.

In case when you have piles of procedural code that you want to refactor into object oriented, this book will be really helpful: