How to use CTE's

What is a CTE?

Basically a common table expression is a table that gets created and only lasts for the duration of that query. Once the query is executed, the table doesn't exist anymore. It can be self referenced and can be referenced multiple times in the same query.

Copy and paste programming

Copy and paste programming by Boipelo Rathebe

A couple a of weeks ago I had a very interesting chat with a java software developer friend of mine, who had just recently started the job and us just having a friendly chat around how he’s finding it, and to my surprise, or not, because  I am quite convinced that we all have found ourselves doing “it”. He tells me it is very hectic and this as a result has taken his friendship with google to a whole new level, so basically when he gets stuck he’ll just do an internet search on what he’s struggling with and hopefully get a suitable solution.

Database vs Data Warehouse

What is a data warehouse?

A data warehouse is a repository of an organization's electronically stored data. Data warehouses are designed to facilitate reporting and analysis. Often designed as OLAP (On-Line Analytical Processing) systems, these databases contain read-only data that can be queried and analysed far more efficiently as compared to your regular OLTP (On-Line Transaction Processing) application databases. In this sense an OLAP system is designed to be read-optimized.

Zoom Zoom...

Here is an awesome little JQuery hack if you ever come across the problem of displaying multiple images on a single page without having to make them all thumbnail sized and ruining the entire visual experience of the page.

Keeping Regular with Regex

Keeping Regular with Regex

The first time I encountered Regex (Regular Expressions), I just shrugged it off as some overly complicated way of doing easy tasks such as simple control content validation. I did not fully understand the powerful capabilities, or what it could enable me to do.

Skills do the Job but Attitude gets the Job

Skills do the Job but Attitude gets the Job

You may have the best technical skills in the world, solve problems in seconds , be a “Master Dev”, have the highest technical certifications and have brains as big as the size of a planet with high IQ but if you have a negative Attitude, you are up for disappointment as a consultant. YOU’LL NEVER TAKE OFF….

Now that's life!

As employees in an IT company, some of us are involved with development, some with networks and others with just the people. But who are we? We are the innovative custodians of our field. We are responsible for the world moving forward. 

As technically gifted individuals we are sometimes mocked and called names. Comments are always made about us or we are questioned. How good is the life we're living? The money we make? The cars we drive or even the types of people we are? This is because in our own way we are uniquely different from everyone else.

If you think about it, every single one of us forms a part of this unbelievably well oiled machine. No matter how small your particular function is.  

the InTern ninja wears SQL

Episode 1-Pilot 

Sitting here thinking what to blog about…man this is not easy

Episode 2 - The Pressure of Life

Still thinking what I should write about...

We are always in so much pressure to perform. Does Technology make it easier or more difficult for us? I sat in front of this computer for weeks trying to think of an appropriate topic to blog but nothing. I am under so much pressure now and…wait! That’s it! 

Technology has made it possible for us to deal with life better. So much information is available at our disposal that one can literally sit the night before and start a research project and get it done. At least that's what I did with some of my projects. The library has become something of an extra and not as essential as before.

So I might write about dynamic SQL or how the latest BI projects have improved the business processes, and the ability of an organization to collect, maintain, and organize knowledge. 

Well truly thinking of I am not entirely sure how to implement either of the two, so instead read about the dynamics of SQL and gaze into space thinking about what I read (like Sheldon Cooper’s girl friend in 'The Big Bang Theory'). Or alternatively tried having a tête-à-tête to try and prove to myself that I understood what I just read about.

Episode 3 - The Ninja Intern (Intern in IT)

For the past few months I’ve working around dangerous minds, i.e. (really intelligent) minds.

One would assume when you are an intern all you do is make coffee, file personal documents or take the boss’ car to be washed.  Honestly, I would say we only see those events transpire in movies. In the real world it’s all hard work and learning things I thought I already knew.  I  now know what is meant when they say: “What you have learned in college is literally the foundation that keeps one steady and geared up for the knowledge that is bound to be learned.” Keeping in mind that only those that are ready and are willing to learn are the ones that really grow once the internship ends.

Episode 4 - Really! 

Here I am trying to make sense of a procedure that is used to Setup Email Notifications On Disabled Queues (Service Broker) To this day I still try to figure out how some developers read code and make sense of it like they're reading "Dare Me" by Megan Abbott  One would assume that trying to find your feet in the IT industry is fairly easy, all you do is try and prove that you can write code and the BIG guys will be impressed. Well news flash!  Writing code may be easy but writing code that actually works is something else.

I am the ninja intern and for the past few months that I have been an intern I have learned my responsibilities and challenges that come with wanting to play with the big guns.

From the ninja intern, peace out!

 

 

 

Sexy html! Thank you JQuery! Gray hairs be gone!

Anyone who has worked with JQuery cannot deny the absolute simplicity it brings to the table in terms of animation. (This is definitely not the only thing JQuery is great at but what I am focusing on today)

Dynamic Systems Development Method

     

   Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM) an agile software development for projects which are on a tight deadline. DSDM delivers projects on time in a need and robust form. Its priority is based on the must have requirements of a system. It achieves the immediate needs of a project and allow for additional functionality later on. It is based on nine principles and all nine principles need to be applied to start implementing a project. Ignoring one of the principles puts a project at risk.

Unleash your Phones True Potential!

Phones and Tablets have become part of life. Almost everyone in our modern day society owns some form of mobile device and with the constant daily improvements even your entry level phones are now considered to be Smartphones. Tablets are also becoming more and more popular. The one with problem these devices is that the manufacturers often limit them which means most of these devices don’t work to their full potential out of the box.  This is so the consumer doesn’t fiddle around, tweak things they aren’t supposed to be touched or worse, break something (which the manufacturer may be liable for). The biggest players in the mobile smartphone market are Android, Apple iOS and Windows 8 mobile. What if I told you there was a way to unlock your device to use it to its fullest potential. Let me introduce to the world of Jailbreaking/ Rooting.

Getting more out of IIS

Need some of you own custom code to run in IIS?

Behind every webpage is ‘Private’ HTML

Having your own intellectual property out there for the world to see could be seen as an open invitation for some people to have a look at your code and make it their own.

Behind every good webpage is even better HTML. This HTML should be protected in more ways than one, but just how private is your HTML code when users are able to view the source code with just two clicks?

MS SQL Server 2008 "Side-By-Side Configuration" Error

With only three days left before deploying to TEST, my SQL Server database went CRAZY on me!

An error to this effect kept showing up each time I tried to run MS SQL SERVER 2008 R2:

“The application has failed to start because its side-by-side configuration is incorrect. Please see the application event log or use the command-line sxstrace.exe tool for more detail.”

After hunting around for 2 days I found this awesome post by a MS blogger (Cesardl) - 

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/cesardelatorre/archive/2011/03/27/the-application-has-failed-to-start-because-its-side-by-side-configuration-is-incorrect-error-related-to-mmc-exe-programs-and-weird-cause-amp-simple-solution.aspx

I have taken his post and simplified it  below:

Step 1:

Find the Ssms.exe.config file on your machine.

It is found here:

i) C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Tools\Binn\VSShell\Common7\IDE - 64 bit Windows 7.

ii) C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Tools\Binn\VSShell\Common7\IDE - 32 bit Windows 7.

Step 2:

Rename the exiting Ssms.exe.config file to Ssms.exe.configxxx.

Step 3:

Use notepad.exe (Press Start and type "notepad.exe" + press enter) to create a new  Ssms.exe.config file.

Save it here:

i) C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Tools\Binn\VSShell\Common7\IDE - 64 bit Windows 7.

ii) C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Tools\Binn\VSShell\Common7\IDE - 32 bit Windows 7.

Yes, you are just saving an empty file, stay with me. :)

Step 4:

Copy the XML code below and paste it into your new Ssms.exe.config file.  Save.

<configuration>

   <runtime>

      <assemblyBinding xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1">

       <dependentAssembly>

         <assemblyIdentity name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.StorageClient"

                           publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35"

                           culture="neutral" />

         <bindingRedirect oldVersion="1.0.0.0"

                          newVersion="1.1.0.0"/>

       </dependentAssembly>

       <dependentAssembly>

         <assemblyIdentity name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.StorageClient"

                           publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35"

                           culture="neutral" />

          <publisherPolicy apply="no" />

       </dependentAssembly>

      </assemblyBinding>

   </runtime>

</configuration>

Step 5:

Open SQL Server 2008 R2 as "Administrator" of your computer. This allows the programs to re-register certain components.

You should be good to go!

Heaps Of Trouble

I recently came across a situation at a client which I thought I would share with you. I came across this while doing some routine maintenance and noticed a small table consuming a lot of memory. I mean this table, which is a smallish lookup table, was consuming almost 430 MB of buffer space. The thing about lookup tables and the way they are used is that the entire table is usually read into memory. This is by design but the problem here is that there should be no way that this table needs 430 MB.

The tricky swamps of database versioning

If any developer have to draw a picture of most solutions, he/she usually draw the cylinder that represents the database first. Unfortunately when you start to apply version control to the solution, you start versioning the code first and more often than not completely omit the database from this process. One can ascribe this to the fact that database versioning can become relatively tricky, but also because few people understand exactly how to version a database.

How long has it been?

Time flies when you don't know what you're doing.

When I wrote my first blog, it was basically me, writing what should have been in a diary, on a very public location. Even though it’s not something that will come back and haunt my kids, it was probably a bit too personal for the public domain.

But maybe that is the point to all this blog business. Leave it to a bunch of computer geeks to share their feelings in the public. On one condition: Get us to do it with a keyboard and mouse. Score!

In the end though, we are the makers of our own destiny. Not that that stops any of us from purposefully making fools of ourselves by writing just about anything on the public domain. Cater for trolls, and guess who’s coming to dinner. Even though this might not make too much sense to most readers, some of you might actually figure out what the meaning of this post is, but to ease the pain I’ll throw in some extra facts:

• Nineteen out of twenty of you will probably be reading this and think what a colossal waste of time this is.
• Nine percent might actually get what it is about.
• Seven different cryptography solutions were used during the world war, but this is not a fact, and you should not believe everything you read on the web.

PS: If you haven’t figured it out yet, there is a hidden message in the text above. My only question is: How long has it been?

Demystifying Entity Framework and Linq

In this blog, I want to share some knowledge of above subjects with you! Somewhere in the blog, there is a deliberate error in the facts! If you can spot it, do not keep your silence and report it, so that we can all benefit on the discussion!

Get Your Game on! App Awards 2013!

The game is on, and it’s all about showing off your app development skills!

Build an app for Windows 8 and you could win a spot on stage at TechEd 2013 to showcase in front of 1000’s of your peers in the local technical community. Also stand a chance for your app to be highlighted on Microsoft’s online properties.

Plus the top apps will be selected every month from now until February to win fantastic prizes such as an Xbox; Slate PCs or cool Microsoft SideWinder keyboards, SideWinder mouse and many more prizes to recognise YOU for your apps. Cool apps that achieve more than 5000 downloads and more than 3 ratings for 4 stars or higher will stand better chances of winning.

So keep an eye out for more info to come or get started right here:

For more info click here. Follow us on Twitter click here. Follow us on Facebook click here.

Are you ready to get your game on? That’s the spirit; c’mon get your game on!

We look forward to welcoming you.

**Blog reposted from Microsoft.

Music to code to...

What are you listening?

If you’re a developer in some regard, chances are you've got a pair of headphones and chances are you use them...daily. One of the unwritten clauses when you fill the position of a dev is that you spend most of your time with your ears filled with something that is sent through the above mentioned ‘phones’ (preferably music).