General Discussion

Topics that talk about general programming principles

Rolling Dice in Java, C# and PHP

Some of the very first programs we are introduced to in programming is the idea of random numbers. This is often introduced using the idea of the die or dice. We have all seen them and have probably even thrown a set of dice at some point in our life. A die is pretty much a representation of a random number generator with a fixed range of values. The traditional ...

Stubbing Out Functions, Do You Do It?

If have ever taken a beginner programming class in school you were probably introduced to the idea of stubbing out functions. If not, let me quickly tell you what stubbing is. It is the process of identifying tasks in your design and setting up functions to handle those tasks. We define just the function signature (name, parameters and body) without writing the code statements in them. Once we identify all ...

Review of “Web Design with HTML, CSS, JavaScript and jQuery” Book Set

As a programmer always thirsty to learn new tech, I also love to get a refresher and learn something new in the process. That is why a couple of times a month I go to the local bookstore (Chapters here in Canada) and browse many of the new books in stock. Over the last few years especially, the computer book section has gotten a bit sparse. It makes sense, many ...

Solving a Null Value When Posting a Simple String to a .NET Web API

The Problem: Many programmers, when creating a .NET Web API project, typically run into a situation where they want to post a simple x-www-form-urlencoded string datatype to an endpoint. They create the POST endpoint and attempt to post a string body to it only to find out that the value passed from the body is null. It can certainly be a frustrating endeavor to find a solution to this. After ...

8 Tips to a Better API Design

We have all seen the numerous articles and tutorials related to great REST API design on the web. They usually talk about proper coding techniques and how to expose the endpoints in some given language. While useful, and definitely needed, they often miss some of the fundamental high level ideas that make great APIs work. In this article we will cover 8 tips which I have learned consuming and providing ...

ASP.NET Variables Won’t Hold Their Value

When it comes to working with ASP.NET most developers who have done standard desktop development always run into the problem of their class variables not retaining their values. You create a variable at the class/page level and expect that when you click a button or change a server control on the page that those variables will be there when its event is triggered. But in many cases they are not ...