Conceptric

Summary of Software Engineering

  1. Computing costs for the Small Developer: VPS or Cloud

    As promised in my earlier post about the advantages of Cloud hosting for lone developers, I’ve tried to put together some numbers. I’ve chosen to compare my favourite VPS based hosting providers with a couple of the most popular Cloud services: Rackspace and Amazon. Choosing the services to compare I’ve tried to select VPS and [...]

  2. Benefits of the Cloud for the Small Developer

    Problems with a production server – that took much longer than I’d have liked to fix – led my thoughts to the opportunities provided by Cloud computing for solitary developers like me.

  3. Developing problems with Bundler, RVM and Passenger

    I’ve grown to appreciate using Bundler to manage dependencies for all my Rails and Sinatra applications. I also combine it with RVM to generate a dedicated gemset for each application bundle and an associated .rvmrc file. Create the Gemset, an application Gemfile defining the dependencies and issue bundle install, simple.

  4. Bundler for Sinatra dependencies

    Package dependencies are always a nightmare and with multiple applications on my server, each with their own set of Ruby gems, controlling the version they’re using has become important. I’ve been using Sinatra for more and more projects, but there came a point this week when I realised that I was in danger of accidentally [...]

  5. Evolving style after six months on Rails

    It’s coming up to 6 months since I announced my transition from PHP to Ruby and I’m really getting the hang of my new web development toolkit by working on a personal project.

  6. How does behaviour drive development?

    Behaviour Driven Development (BDD) is an adaptation of earlier Test Driven practices (TDD) that’s growing on me, but it’s raised an interesting problem: the order in which to describe desired behaviour so that it actually drives development.

  7. Web hosting in the UK: green and cost effective

    A couple of months ago I came to the decision that my fragmented approach to web hosting needed a little reorganisation. I like to use UK hosts and I’m passionate about minimise my carbon footprint. On this basis Brightbox and Memset are both good choices, but with new projects on the horizon, the lure of cheaper US hosting is hard to resist. Can UK providers do even better?

  8. Switching to Rails

    I know that a good developer should choose the best tool for the job in hand, but their own productivity and inspiration must inform the decision in selecting the best tool.

  9. Working with Git and Subversion

    I’ve got a local copy of the Subversion repository under Git, so I thought I should talk about my workflow.

  10. Importing a remote Subversion repository with Git

    To start this series about teaming Git with Subversion, I need to create a local copy of the Subversion Repository.

  11. Advantages of a Git and Subversion blend

    I’ve had time to try Git with my remote Subversion repositories, using the git svn commands, and I wouldn’t go back. To start this small series, I’ll try to explain the enthusiasm.

  12. Testing applications for the Web

    I’m a fan of Test-Driven Development because I enjoy the freedom that a comprehensive test suite provides: without it I tend to feel that I’m walking through a minefield.

  13. CodeIgniter test coverage

    I’m still not happy with the code coverage I can get even with SimpleTest fully integrated with CodeIgniter.

  14. When frameworks are too friendly

    High quality Content Management Systems and development frameworks are everywhere, but are they all trying to be too friendly and flexible?

  15. What Git does best.

    I’ve succumbed to the lure of the cool kids version control. GIT has advantages and disadvantage over my current favourite, Subversion.

  16. Code ignition

    Whilst developing a relatively simple application for managing my budgets, I’ve decided to experiment with a few different frameworks. With so many to choose from, how do I feel about going for CodeIgniter?

  17. Why I like to be Agile

    I’ve practised traditional project management techniques in Heavy Engineering, studied their use in Software Engineering, and found problems throughout. Why am I so interested in Agile techniques?

  18. Capistrano works!

    Effective version control and Capistrano managed deployment has hugely enhanced my workflow and quality.

  19. Drupal revisited

    Four months on and it’s time to review progress on the Northamptonshire Bird Club website. Is Drupal working out the way I hoped?

  20. Programming from a different angle

    I don’t feel I’ve got the programming experience I’d like for my future plans. So, I’ve got one of those personal project — the type that you never seem to get round to — in mind to provide me with a good workout. Which programming platform to use for the server-side application? Whilst I have [...]