Introduction
I'm actually not sure what to put on this page. Listing the techologies I've used is one thing but it's hard to describe how I've used Visual Studio for example.
For now just consider this page to be a work in progress.
Visual Studio/.NET
I am a .NET programmer by profession. It's what I get paid to do. I've been doing it for a long time and have written numerous applications in both Visual Basic.NET and C#.
I use Visual Studio.NET as my programming IDE, however I have also used other tools such as WebMatrix and the free editions of Visual Studio Express. In addition, I have also used several of the command line commands from the .NET framework to accomplish tasks from builds to generating strong assembly names and private keys.
Ruby on Rails
While I'm currently getting paid to be a .NET developer, I do Ruby On Rails for fun. I would LOVE to get paid to do it, but right now, in the Madison Wisconsin market, it doesn't seem that there's a lot of demand for it.
Since I do my Rails development for fun, I publish (or plan to publish) most everything I do up on RubyForge.org
Subversion
While I'm familiar with several different version control systems (CVS, Visual Source Safe, PVCS), my preference is for Subversion. I have installed Subversion clients on Linux as well as Windows systems and use Subversion Repositories hosted on Linux systems.
Prototype
Having done a good deal of client side validation and DHTML in earlier web development days, when I learned about Prototype, I was very excited that my days of writing huge long functions to perform simple tasks were over.
I use Prototype in my Rails applications. The Rails framework includes Prototype and has very nice and thourough integration.
Script.aculo.us
Script.aculo.us is a wonderful library for accomplishing cross-platform and cross-browser animation effects. Rather than having to code javascript by hand for IE versus Firefox, Script.aculo.us takes care of that for you.
The animatiion effects provided by the library are really amazing. Since Script.aculou.us is integrated directly into Rails, I tend to use the effects in my applications. Like salt in a recipie though, too much is no good. I try to use the effects only when they make sense to help the users.
AJAX
The key ingredient to AJAX is the XmlHTTPRequest mechanism. It's a javascript mechanism by which requests can be posted without refreshing or reposting the page. When used with Prototype and Script.aculo.us, XmlHTTPRequest is a potent combination for delivering a fantastic Web2.0 style experience to the user.
Due to my current assignment, I have been coding using AJAX patterns in my Rails development.
Unix Administration
I my efforts to develop and run Rails Applications, I found that shared hosting providers utilizing FastCGI weren't performing up to my expectations. I decided it was time to take matters into my own hands. I got a Virtual Private Server (VPS).
A VPS is just what it says. It's a virtual server which stands on it's own separate from anyone else. Physically, I share hardware with seven or eight (or who knows?) other customers. Logically though, we all have our own boxes. We can install any OS we want. We can reboot our virtual boxes without affecting the other folks on the hardware. It's beautiful.
As Ben Parker points out though: "With great power comes great responsibility."
The hosting company doesn't have the time or manpower to offer support to VPS users. I get just a very basic set of tools. It was up to me to setup and install:
- Apache
- MySQL
- Ruby On Rails
- Mongrel
- BIND9 DNS
Hosting my own server has been invaluable learning experience and the performance I get is terrific!
