News

Kotlin Begins Its Take Over Of Android   Wednesday 11 October

Google made Kotlin its lead language for Android development back in May of this year (2017) and it has been interesting to watch for signs of its take up or outright rejection. Now we have the first signs that Android programmers are voting with their feet and moving steadily to Kotlin.  

Stack Overflow Considered Harmful?   Wednesday 11 October

What proportion of Android apps in the Play store include security-related code snippets copied directly from Stack Overflow? Does the copied code increase or decrease application security? 

RStudio Adds Object Explorer   Tuesday 10 October

There's a new version of RStudio with improvements including an object explorer.  

Europe Code Week 2017 Now Underway   Tuesday 10 October

This year's Europe Code Week lasts from October 7th to 22nd and, with spin-offs taking place in African and Latin America, is expected to reach millions of participants who will try out some coding, make an app, tinker with hardware and have lots of fun. 

Windows Phone Dead - Is Windows Next?   Monday 09 October

Software never dies so "dead" is perhaps too strong a way to put it, but if you still think that Windows Phone is something to bet your future on you need to think very carefully about the nature of reality. Microsoft has now gone about as far as it can in saying that Windows Mobile is no more.  

The Mystery Of Arduino & ARM   Monday 09 October

The latest announcement from the newly restored Arduino company, from Massimo Banzi, has raised more questions than it answers. The short version is Arduino partners with ARM. But what exactly does this mean? 

Orion 16 Improves Node Server   Monday 09 October

There's a new release of Orion, the Eclipse cloud IDE, with improvements to the Node.js server, language tooling, and trial debugger support. 

Honda's Disaster Response Robot   Sunday 08 October

Honda's E2-DR prototype described as an "experimental legged robot for inspection and disaster response in plants" was revealed at last month's IROS 2017 in Vancouver. 

What Intelligent Machines Can Learn From A School Of Fish   Saturday 07 October

We haven't reported a good TED talk on AI or programming for some time, perhaps because they are getting thinner on the ground. This one, however, is very good indeed and if you are interested in flocking or swarm behavior you need to see it. How the simple becomes impressive. 

Google Launches Firestore   Friday 06 October

Google has launched a NoSQL document database as part of its Firebase platform for app developers. 

Udacity and Unity Expand AR/VR Training   Friday 06 October

A year after launching its VR Developer Nanodegree Udacity, in partnership with Unity is launching another program to prepare  developers for the opportunities offered by new AR/VR technology.  

Babel Fish Is Real, But Who Pays?   Thursday 05 October

Google's most noteworthy announcement at its recent launch event is arguably the new Pixel Buds - earpieces to you and me. What is noteworthy is that these are billed as providing real time translation. Yes, the day of the Babel Fish is upon us. 

React 16 Adds Fragments   Thursday 05 October

There's a new version of React with improvements including fragments, error boundaries, portals, and support for custom DOM attributes.  

Gradle 4.2 Released With Faster Build Times   Thursday 05 October

The emphasis in the recently released Gradle 4.2 is improved support for building native applications, which has reduced build times for native performance by as much as half. Another highlight is the inclusion of Gradle Kotlin DSL.  

A Worm's Mind In An Arduino Body   Wednesday 04 October

It is a few years since we first encountered the mind of C. elegans built into a Lego body but now we have a version everyone can play with. It is presented as a biologically plausible model of the neural network of a small worm running on an Arduino Uno robotic platform.  

The Core

The Programmers Guide To Kotlin - Data Classes   Monday 09 October

Kotlin doesn't have structs or records specifically designed for storing data as you might find in other languages but it does have a special type of class that it just right for the job. 

Babbage's Bag

Codd and his Rules   Thursday 05 October

Theories of how we should organize databases are thin on the ground. The one exception is the work of E.F. Codd, the originator of the commandment-like “Codd’s Rules”. This approach to database has been codified into SQL - Structured Query Language -  and so into most of the databases on the planet, despite what the NoSQL movement might want you to think. So what are Codd's Rules and what is a relational database?