programming — Page 2

Resolving the ‘setStatusBarHidden:animated:’ is deprecated Warning

I’m working on chapter 6, Subclassing UIView, of iPhone Programming
by Joe Conway and Aaron Hillegass¹ to learn iOS programming. There’s a deprecated method in the code for hiding the status bar in the Hypnosister app. Xcode 4 generates a warning that UIApplication setStatusBarHidden:animated: is deprecated.

One of the ways I make sure I’m understanding the material rather than just typing in examples is to chase down issues like this. Here’s how I did it: I selected the method, setStatusBarHidden, in the code and used the “Jump to Definition” feature (control-command-D or Navigate|Jump to Definition on the menu). That brought up the source for the method. The comment at the end told me to use -setStatusBarHidden:withAnimation:. Using the code completion feature I changed the original line:
[Read more…]

How I Created Web-based, Evidence-driven Genealogy Software as a Service

By bsayer

I started a website called MacGenealogist.com in July of 2008. On that website I published instructional videos teaching people how to research their family histories using the leading genealogy software for the Macintosh computer. In October of that year I began covering the leading Windows genealogy software on a sister website called PCGenealogist.com (the content of which has since been moved to GenealogyTools.com). I wanted the videos on both sites to be focused on carrying out specific family history research processes so I studied the available methodologies and researched the commonly performed tasks.

After a year and fifty or so videos, I noticed that all of the major genealogy programs were focused on collecting conclusions, but not the evidence and arguments for those conclusions. They were focused on the end of the process! That left genealogists and family historians to figure out the most difficult part. I decided to develop a genealogy program that was focused on making the research and analysis of genealogical evidence clearer and easier. I wanted the software to be usable by everyone, regardless of their choice of Windows or Mac, so I chose to create a web-based solution. [Read more…]

An Extreme Interview

By bsayer

I just had the coolest job interview! I know, that’s as unexpected as hearing, “I just had the coolest root-canal.” It’s astonishing and it’s true. And it’s all thanks to a group of people who have made interesting and human a process that others typically make boring and impersonal. These remarkable people constitute an even more remarkable company called Menlo Innovations. Making interviews simultaneously fun and effective is only one of the many unusual capabilities I’ve learned about in my two visits to what they call their Menlo Software Factory™.

My first visit was three years ago and it marks the beginning of a personal journey. I had just been appointed the manager of a software testing team that unbeknownst to me was stalled on the tracks of an oncoming train. The train was a set of software development practices and principles called “agile.” The software development organization of the company for whom I worked was beginning to introduce these new agile practices without including the project management and software testing organizations. Conflict was woven into the very fabric of this attempt at organizational change, but, gladly, there is a happy ending. [Read more…]