DEV Community: Darius

Climate Strike

Darius — Fri, 20 Sep 2019 10:50:36 +0000

IntelliJ Docker plugin

Darius — Sun, 25 Aug 2019 12:58:45 +0000

TIL that IntelliJ has a Docker plugin that gives you a UI tool within the IDE to integrate with Docker (running on your local machine). Not much different from integration with other servers like WebSphere, Tomcat and so on.

Step 1: install the Plugin

Basic set-up is easy. Just point to Docker.

Step 2: Map Ports etc.
Clicking on the same two arrows, but then selecting the "Edit Dockerfile" option allows you to map ports and to specify other options you might otherwise need to provide at the Docker command line.

Step 3: Run your Dockerfile
Once this is done, when you open your Dockerfile, you will see the typical green "Run" arrowheads in IntelliJ (or whatever shows in your theme).

Step 4: Monitor and Control
The "Services" tool tab allows you to monitor the container's logs, and to control various other aspects... check out the various tabs.. For instance, you can look at the environment variables.
It also has an option to run a docker exec So, it's easy to jump into a shell in your container to check it out.

Recommend a Simple Kafka UI Tool

Darius — Sat, 24 Aug 2019 03:55:14 +0000

I'm looking for recommendations for a simple UI -based tool that will help

viewing lists of Kafka topics,
viewing Consumer groups for each topics
viewing messages for a topic
post test messages to a topic

The audience would be developers who are using Kafka and could use a simple tool within their test environments.

I found a couple of tools:

Kafka Tool
Yahoo Kafka-manager Also, based on replies here and elsewhere:
Confluent Control Center (if using Confluent Kafka)
Kafdrop HT: @ekoutanov
Kadeck HT: @benjaminbuick_19

I'm looking for recommendations of more tools

We need Literature in CS Courses

Darius — Mon, 05 Aug 2019 03:13:36 +0000

Think back to high-school. Do you remember Literature class? It was different from grammar. In what way? It was trying to demonstrate good writing. If you hated it, it's probably because you found the books boring. They should have been teaching you the Harry Potter books! Nevertheless, the principle was right: if you want to do something, see how the experts are doing it. If you want to skateboard, you can study the techniques step by step, but it also helps to watch great skateboarders. See how they use the techniques, and how they break the rules too.

If you want to build skyscrapers, you must study structural engineering, 3-D modelling, etc., To learn, you need to dive deeply into specific aspects of architecture. Yet, you also need to study the whole building. You should study and visit real buildings to see how other architects put their ideas into practice.

Babies learn language through exposure and immersion. Similarly, while learning about software, one must learn the language, but one should also look at the "literature'. One ought to look at real software, actively used in various projects to see how it was designed.

Perhaps there's some framework you love to use. It's useful to go behind the scenes and ask: how did they code this? what choices did they make and why? It's like studying the work of great artist, or a great author. Colleges ought to offer courses like this.

Won't this stifle creativity? Won't this encourage mindless aping? Yeah, it could. So, don't do that, :) The first rap-artist learnt language through exposure, yet came up with original cadence and lyrics.

Container Management Platform .. for FREE!!

Darius — Sat, 27 Jul 2019 16:26:36 +0000

The microservice world seems to have decided on two layers of the stack:

Docker for containers
Kubernetes to Orchestrate the containers

The level "below" (cloud service) may be hosted on something like AWS, or on premises.

The level above (application management) is less clear. The leading contenders are RedHat's OpenShift and Docker Enterprise, with Pivotal's Application Manager competing against them.

The interesting thing: there's no free software available for the application management layer. You can download and use Docker or Kubernetes, but you can't do the same with OpenShift and so on.

Is this an space begging for an OpenSource project, or am I missing something?

Doing Agile perfectly? Then, you're doing it wrong!

Darius — Sun, 23 Dec 2018 11:35:18 +0000

Lot's of teams are sold on Agile. Every company does it a bit differently. Some dive in the deep end, others take baby steps. Typically adopted are: sprints and stand-ups/scrums. Next, perhaps: grooming of stories, retrospectives at the end of sprints.

A lot of great ideas and tips have been developed around the various aspects of Agile. For instance, take the scrum: it is supposed to be a quick meeting, to set the team's context for the next day or two. It isn't the meeting where problems are actually resolved. Often, only a couple of people on the team are directly involved with a problem. Having everyone else listen in can be a waste of time. Makes sense.

Yet, if you follow this "no discussion of problems" too closely, you're not doing being agile. Because the rule is part of the process, and Agile is not about process. If a rule is a good idea, it makes sense to follow it... following it will be natural and productive. And, if you suddenly feel you need to break the rule, ... if that makes sense to you in the moment... you should break it.

When someone else breaks a rule, you might think "that's not Agile". Stop! Catch yourself. That type of thinking is process-oriented. Instead, if you think "discussing that here will waste other people's time"... that's perfectly fine.

In summary: don't do Agile, but be agile.

The Elusive Senior Software Developer

Darius — Sat, 06 Oct 2018 01:57:58 +0000

Where does one find great Senior Software Developers?

The biggest problem: they’re not looking!

It’s easier to find programmers fresh from college, through events like job fairs. And in the early years of their careers, many are still looking for a better fit in a job, or looking for experience that can help them deepen their portfolio. So, they occasionally network or check job sites.

The elusive beast is the person who is not looking. Most companies try to hold on to competent employees. A good senior programmer is probably comfortable in their current job. They’re already doing interesting work. People respect them. They’re a “go to person” for colleagues and managers. They’re paid well. And, more often than not they’ve figured out a work-life balance that meshes their private schedules with the needs of their job.

They’re not necessarily in their perfect job. Maybe they would rather work on newer technology; maybe they’d rather not be the “go to person” on some subject because it’s old hat; maybe they would like a little more flexibility in managing their work-life balance; maybe they know they could earn a little more elsewhere. No, it isn’t necessarily the perfect job; but, it’s a good job. And, so, they’re not looking.

If they do not check job boards or otherwise look actively, how do we find them? Most do not make enough post-work time to attend networking events.One might find them on a site like LinkedIn and reach out to them. Chances are, though, that they are inactive on LinkedIn, with outdated profiles. Even if one finds them, the challenge is that they treat recruiter-emails as spam. One can try to break through to the few one can find: get them to click on that email! What about the others?

Finding them, when they aren’t looking, is the challenge. Thoughts and ideas?