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Showing posts from March, 2018

libGDX - A Java based Cross-Platform Game Engine - Introduction

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LibGDX  is a Java Based Cross-Platform game engine. One code base can be used to generate apps for Android, iOS, HTML and Desktop games  I've published 3 simple apps to the play store now. All of which had simple interfaces. So none of them were really mouth gaping to look at and interact with. For my next app challenge I want to tackle something more meaty. Now since I tend to lean towards Java development, I've been looking for a Java based game engine, and fortunately, I've found one! LibGDX has support for 2D physics, which will allow you to use and control objects in your game, apply gravity and also caters for collision detection (when 2 or more objects collide with each other). Now those are just some of the features. I'll be using this engine to create a simple platformer or sidescroller type of game.  My current dev environment consists of Android Studio 3.0.1  IDE. If you don't have use Android Studio, I strongly suggest you go download it. ...
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How Context Switching is killing your productivity at work

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Multi-tasking is something that is part of our daily lives. We watch TV while we eat. We converse while making food. We listen to the radio while driving. Harmless enough right? Then why is multi-tasking at work such a productivity killer? Context switching is form of multi-tasking where you'll stop working on a task in lieu of another. This is most commonly due to external factors which can vary from a simple phone call or email all the way to changing of requirement priorities. The thing that we usually don't realize is how much time is actually wasted when jumping from task to task. Ever have the thought "now where was I again?" after finishing a conversation or an email reply?. This is the silent killer that I'm talking about. There is usually an amount of time lost trying to get back into the mindset or rhythm of the previous task. The place where I've noticed that is most heavily affected by context switching is the Support Desk. The pro...
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Integrating Code Syntax on a Blog or Website.

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As a developer, one is used to seeing code snippets formatted in a specific way. Eg: public class FormatCodeClass{ { public void showFormattedMethod() { System.out.println("Yay"); } } Fortunately, most websites that support these snippets use some kind of library that can be used to render this easily. The one that I use on my blog is called Google Pretty Print. I'll be explaining how to integrate this into your website/Blogger.  Step 1) Add the library to your HTML above the <body> tag Click on Themes, then on Edit HTML. Search for the <body> tag and copy  <script src='https://cdn.rawgit.com/google/code-prettify/master/loader/run_prettify.js'/> above it.  Step 2) Add in your preferred CSS above the </head> tag <!--Desert theme--> <style type='text/css'>pre .atn,pre .kwd,pre .tag{font-weight:700}pre.prettyprint{display:block;background-color:#333}pre .nocode{background-color:none;color:...
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Android App - Would You Rather Kids - Update #1

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I released my first proper application to the Play Store on November 2017. It's called "Would You Rather Kids Free".  It's a really simple game that took about to week to develop (1-2 hours dev day). To me, this was a really great achievement. The game idea itself was quite a common idea, so there was nothing really special about it. However, what it was to me, was a great learning experience on Firebase integration and general Android UI functionality. Firebase is awesome! It's google's mobile platform that provides additional tools to be used for ones application. The best one of all is an online realtime database. Did I mention that firebase is free? There are various premium packages with premium contention. However Firebase does have a free package with basic features, which is all one needs to start out. 4 months after the release of my app, it somehow has quite a few downloads! 4500 total downloads with 1275 active installs. This blows my m...
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Android App Development - Introduction

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When I think back to my childhood, I think of the times my family used to go to the arcade/games centre. While playing the various games, I always had the same thought: "This game is awesome, but I wish I could change it so that it could have this feature or that feature". It was at this early age that I realized that it surely must be so fun to create and develop games. Fast forward into the future, the practicality and financial stability of game development didn't seem like a viable option in South Africa. So unfortunately, I ended up not pursuing it. It was only when I started studying Computer Science at university and had my first module in Android Development, did the excitement return. One of my first android applications was to create a media player. Oh, man, this was a fun but definitely challenging experience. Later in that same year, I partnered up with a friend to create a game. Yes, an actual game, just like I had dreamed when I was a child. The id...
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Cup of Java #1 - Odd One Out

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Welcome to my Cup of Java series, where I'd like to tackle some fun coding challenges/questions and also dive into interesting Java related material. "White board" questions are quite common in technical interviews. As one can imagine, the pressure to perform while under the spotlight can be overwhelming. Back in 2012, I was asked my first white board question during a technical interview.  The question went as follows: "Given an array of integers N, write a method that will return the integer that is repeated an odd number of times. E.g: In the array [1, 1, 6, 2, 1, 6, 2, 1, 2], the odd integer is 2. Note that there will be only one of these integers. The order of the numbers are random." My first attempt to solve the solution used multiple temporary arrays. The solution worked, but was inefficient, possibly O(n squared). My interviewers asked that if I was given more time, how would I improve on my answer. The below was second attempt whi...
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Welcome to the Jungle

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Welcome to my first ever blog! I'm a passionate software engineer who just loves challenges and solving interesting problems. I've been working professionally for over 5 years using technology like Java, JavaScript, SQL Server, MySQL, Hibernate and a few other technologies. I've dabbled with python. I've dabbled with Android. And overall, I just love coding. So I thought to myself, one late night, that it'd be interesting to start website and post my journey into the continuous improvement of my technology stack and any random technology pieces that interest me (and hopefully you). So follow me on my programming journey and let's learn a whole bunch of things together :) Thanks, Faraaz
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