Author Archives: ron

Using Scala for something I’d normally using a “scripting” language for

Posted on January 12, 2010 by ron

From time to time, some repetitive task comes up that I can do quicker by writing a script to do it than to do it manually. Especially if it’s something I may be needing to do again in the future. … Continue reading →

Posted in Scala | 2 Comments

New change management tool: Redmine

Posted on November 21, 2009 by ron

I was starting a new project, needed a change management tool, and wasn’t really satisfied with the tools available last time I looked, so I took a look at what was currently available.  One option I came across that hadn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Software Development, Tools | Leave a comment

Scala, Maven and IntelliJ

Posted on October 8, 2009 by ron

I’m evaluating Scala for a project I’ve recently started.  The project requires processing a large number of data structures.  Between Scala’s good support for parallelism and functional programming, it seems like a good fit.  I’ve heard Scala brings many of … Continue reading →

Posted in Scala | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Maven and skinny wars

Posted on September 20, 2009 by ron

Maven is a great build system, but sometimes limitations come up that can drive you crazy.  One such limitation is support for building “skinny war” files.  Granted, I don’t think it’s the most common configuration, but for certain types of … Continue reading →

Posted in Java, Tools | Tagged | Leave a comment

Public mashup and data feed APIs

Posted on August 2, 2009 by ron

I’m doing some research for a possible venture.  A part of this venture would fall into the mashup category – pulling information from other sites and services, and combining it in a unique way.  Following are my initial notes on … Continue reading →

Posted in Software Development, Web | Leave a comment

JSR 303 & Hibernate validation framework

Posted on July 14, 2009 by ron

I was recently looking for a validation framework, and came across the work that has been done lately for JSR 303 (latest version of the spec here). JSR 303 defines a standard meta-data model and API for validation of JavaBeans/POJOs. … Continue reading →

Posted in Java | Tagged | 1 Comment

Grails security

Posted on June 1, 2009 by ron

I’m working an a Grails-based project which requires security, as pretty much every web application does. My high level requirements are: Role-based access control Database-based authentication (passwords stored in database) Simple to use Good documentation Ability to model permissions for … Continue reading →

Posted in Grails | Tagged | 1 Comment

Idea 8.1 & Grails 1.1

Posted on May 1, 2009 by ron

I’ve been working with Grails again lately after not using it for a while. Last time I was using Grails was a pre-1.0 release about a year ago. Even then it was an extremely productive framework, but it was rough … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Grails | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Setting up a virtual private server

Posted on February 2, 2009 by ron

I’ve had a dedicated server at a hosting provider that I’ve used to host applications and sites for years. I got a great price on the hosting package and it’s worked well, but the server’s growing long in the tooth … Continue reading →

Posted in Web | Leave a comment

Mercurial and Subversion : What’s working for me

Posted on December 22, 2008 by ron

One popular use of DVCS systems such as Mercurial and GIT is as “super clients” to Subversion, at least until more projects get on the DVCS bandwagon. You get most of the benefits of the DVCS and can still work … Continue reading →

Posted in Software Development, Tools | 2 Comments