DEV Community: Yashwanth Sai

Kali Linux Install Guide for Ethical Hacking

Yashwanth Sai — Wed, 27 Jul 2022 06:52:58 +0000

Want to install Kali linux - the hackers paradise?

This small and short article will help you install kali linux. Now, if you are learning ethical hacking, then you would need Kali linux (or Parrot os). You should most likely be using Virtual Machines as most of us use it to learn. It makes our lives simple as compared to using the os bare metal.

As a mac user I use Oracle VirtualBox. You can use VMware as well.

Download Kali Linux VMware or VirtualBox images as preferred by you

Once it is done, open VirtualBox

Click on import

Now click on the file directory and navigate the location where your Kali Linux file is located.

Select the .ova file or .ovf file

Click on the import button

Now wait for some time.

………………….

You will now have something like this. Click the start button and your Kali Linux will start booting.

The Username: kali
Password: kali

There you have it.

Next article will focus on getting familiar with Kali Linix.

Linked List in C.

Yashwanth Sai — Thu, 09 Jun 2022 17:53:52 +0000

Linked List

This article covers single linked list.

A Linked List is basically nodes connected or linked to each other. We will discuss how they are linked together.

A node is basically a block which contains a data and a pointer which points to the data of the next node’s data or points to null if that block is the last node in the list.

struct node
{
    int data;
    struct node *next;
};
// We created a structure named node. It has data and a pointer named next.

How to initialise the linkedlist?

In the main function, We first create a node called head which is the first node and it is used as reference node to transverse through the list.

int main()
{
    struct node *head;
        // creating head node
    head = (struct node *)malloc(sizeof(struct node));
        // allocating memory
    head->data = 45;
        // head node's data 
    head->next = NULL;
        // head node's next pointer points to null as we have only one element.

    return 0;
}

We now have a list with one element 45.

We can simply add more values for the time being to see how it works.

int main()
{
    struct node *head;
    head = (struct node *)malloc(sizeof(struct node));
    head->data = 5;
    head->next = NULL;

    struct node *current = (struct node *)malloc(sizeof(struct node));
    current->data = 98;
    current->next = NULL;
        // we create a second node current and the next pointer points to null as only two elements are present.
    head->next = current;
        // we assign the head node's next pointer to current. That means it stores the address of 98.   

    current = malloc(sizeof(struct node));
    current->data = 34;
    current->next = NULL;
        // we assign this node's next pointer to null.
    head->next->next = current;
        // head->next->next should point to the address of 34. 

    return 0;
}

This code should give me a list

5 98 34

The first node contains integer data 5 and address of 98, Second node contains data 98 and address of 34. The third node contains 34 and next pointer points to null.

In the next article, Further operations on linked list will be covered.

VS Code Setup, Themes, Fonts for 2022

Yashwanth Sai — Fri, 14 Jan 2022 18:02:00 +0000

Good environment == Increased productivity.

I use VS Code to learn programming and build projects. It took me time but i have mastered using VS Code efficiently. In this post I will show you my theme(s) and fonts. In the next few posts I will talk about how to boost your productivity and work flow while coding in VS Code.

I have hidden the Panel(cmd+j), Activity bar and Side bar(cmd+b).
You can always add the Activity bar but for me personally Activity bar is a bit distracting. It can be added or removed easily. Go to View >> Appearance >> Show Activity bar.

This much is enough for me to be focused on code. I still have the mini map, it looks cool and doesn’t really distract me.

Themes -

The one I currently use is Shades of Purple.

The others which I really like -

Winter is coming (Dark Blue)

Palenight Theme

One Dark Pro

Monokai Classic

Dracula

Abyss

Red

Fonts -

The one I use is Cascadia Code. The number fonts are really good looking.

The one I recommend is Fira Code, very popular and free.

My First Hackathon

Yashwanth Sai — Thu, 13 Jan 2022 06:48:01 +0000

Intro

On 12th November 2021, I took part in my first Hackathon conducted by my college. This post is all about my experience with hackathons and also working in a team(which was quite new to me).
Our App Maver

So the hackathon was about developing an idea which would help us become a better developer. An idea which could be scaled into a product. It was a 24 hour hackathon and we had to stay awake overnight and come up with a product.

Our idea was an app which would help students manage their monthly finance. With few inputs from our mentors we were able to make an app which was a great deal for us.

We made a Github repo and made it a public project. With more development in coming days we are sure to make a better application. Our team used MIT App Inventor(embarrassing) and added few features to the app. My teammate helped make the gui much better while i was working on database. We used Firebase DB and we managed to make something out of it.

Final takeaways:-

Using MIT App Inventor was not really a good idea since we were not equipped with right of amount of knowledge. Knowledge of basic Javascript and knowing react.js would have placed us miles above. I should also focus on creating more projects.
Frontend is something not to be ignored and recently I have focused more on frontend part.

Need to focus on communication with teammates. I was lucky my teammate understood what was to be done and we somehow made something to show to the evaluators.

In the end, I made friends, learnt about team management and about how a product is made from idea part to execution part.