Desktop Programming

Desktop programming related articles not related to .NET (Java, Python, Ruby etc)

Fines Double in Constructor / Destructor Zones

If your language is somewhat of a fully object oriented programming language then it probably has some form of constructors and destructors. But what good are they? How do you use them to your full advantage to keep your objects "valid"? What is this whole idea of a default constructor and why in the heck do I want to create my own constructor if the default constructor is there for ...

VC++.NET Syntax is Going to Hell In a Hat

Ok, maybe the topic is a little tough but the general idea is pretty sound. Recently I had the pleasure of helping someone on DIC with a VC++ project and decided to whip up something in the latest VS 2005. Now granted much my experience in VC++ was pre 2005 CLI so I was completely blown away with the syntax changes they made using the Common language Infrastructure (CLI) to ...

Variable Lifespan… It’s Born, Used and Dies

Variable lifespan is a very important topic. But what is it and how do we use it to our advantage? A variable's lifespan is the time between its initialization and the time it either goes out of scope or is purposely destroyed (yeah that is right, a programmer can be a hitman too!) Most programmers don't fully realize the implications of setting a variable at the top of a function ...

Inside the World of Ciphers

Ciphers, a great marvel of mathematics and secrecy. They are the very heart of encryption, but how do we bring this to the world of programming and make some kick ass stuff with them? I had gotten the idea of showing some ciphers through a recent question that had been brought up. So I thought I would throw out some code from the dark corners of encryption for today's blog ...