Push

I have started developing a new game using the Slick game library.  It’s a simple game of moving around blocks to put them into the correct spots.  I haven’t got very far, just a working example with two blocks, but I am pretty excited.  In the screen shot you simply move the red and green squares into the big yellow one.   When one of the smaller squares is fully inside the yellow square it shrinks and spins.  When both squares have been put in the yellow square, you win.  There is some collision detection.  You can’t go off the screen and you can’t go through any of the little squares.   No big deal.  Pretty simple.   I have plans of making it bigger though.

Playing On The Google Playground

I have decided to play around with Google Web Toolkit (GWT) and Google AppEngine.  Both look very interesting , very promising, and very fun.  I don’t know very much about them, so this should be an interesting experience and I am sure to learn a ton of new technologies along the way.

My first app is just going to be a Task list.  There are a plethora of Task Lists out there, but I think it will be fun and a good place to start.  I’ve already created my site, The Super List, so feel free to watch the progress (if any)!

Java Is Pass By Value

This is something that threw me off when I first encountered it; I should have read the tutorial.

“Primitive arguments, such as an int or a double, are passed into methods by value. This means that any changes to the values of the parameters exist only within the scope of the method. When the method returns, the parameters are gone and any changes to them are lost.”

“Reference data type parameters, such as objects, are also passed into methods by value. This means that when the method returns, the passed-in reference still references the same object as before. However, the values of the object’s fields can be changed in the method, if they have the proper access level.”

(reference: The Java Tutorial: Passing Information to a Method or Constructor)

Functional Learning

I am looking into declarative programming languages. More specifically I am looking into the functional language Haskell; The concept of functional programming intrigues me. I want to know why/how it is helpful and what I can do with it. In this process, I am also learning about more about imperative languages, so I win all around.

Good Advice

First, this advice didn’t come from me;  I just like it so much that I want everyone to know about it.

I recently began reading the Object Mentor Blog and I came across this post, and it has really stuck a chord with me.  So often I find myself trying to hurry up and get it done, and that usually produces less than good code, which means I have to go back and fix it later or someone else will have to clean up my mess, which is no fun and embarrassing to say the least.  If, however, I take the time to carefully plan out what it is I am creating, use Test Driven Development, and slow down, etc, then the code I have just made will be less likely to break.

We delude ourselves that speed is better.  Not always.

Here are a few things “Uncle Bob” mentions in his blog post to be a professional craftsman:

1) Adopt an attitude of calm

2) Focus on the problem to be solved.

3) Solve the problem step by step without rushing

4) “When you feel the temptation to rush, resist it. Leave the keyboard and walk around. Distract yourself with something else. Do not give in to the call of your addiction.”

I am going to start remembering and implementing these suggestions;  I think I’ll be a better software engineer for it.  Thanks Uncle Bob.

As an update to the above about speed killing, I just read a post by Martin Fowler about Technical Debt.  Sometimes it may be good to deliver fast, poorly designed code that will cause you problems later in order to make an investment in the project, hit deadlines, etc knowing you will have to go back and refactor.

TicTacToe the Game

I finally finished a game!  This may seem like no big deal to most programmers, but for me it is, because I finally finished a game.  I have often started to write one but have always quickly become bogged down by the details.

So here it is in all of its glory!!  You can download it here.  Later, because now I have to get to work, I will go into the details of how I made it, and then everyone can give me tips on how to make it better.

Game Development

I, like many others, love computer games, and I, like many others, would like to create computer games, and since I have never made a computer game before, I am going to give it a go.  I will post my successes and failures here and share them with the world.  Maybe we can learn together.  Feel free to leave comments and subscribe to my feed.

Sidetracked By FLEX

I’m still going to do research/comparison on JavaScript libraries, but I am sidetracked by the amazing possibilities offered by Adobe(tm) FLEX. The UI is beautiful, the cross-browser/platform advantages speak for themselves, and the simplicity of writing a FLEX application sells me on it.

This just brings me to the same question that seems to haunt me: “With so many amazing technologies, how is a boy to choose?”

Many JavaScript Libraries

So I found I new JavaScript library. Maybe you’ve heard of it. EXT JS. I have been using PrototypeJs and the Script.aculo.us library for a little while, but just now came across this new library. I have only briefly looked at EXT JS, namely their desktop,which , though slow and a little bug prone, looks very good. The things we can do with the web are limitless and the more we stretch ourselves by attempting new things the better.

So I think everyone knows that there is a plethora of tools at the disposale of the web developer. How then do we decide which are the right tools for us? I think I will explore the different tools I have come across, write about them, and let whomever decides to read comment. So stay tuned.