March 17, 2017 in Learn
An Introduction to React Native
React is a framework created by Facebook for data driven web interfaces. React provides a component driven architecture which uses a declarative syntax and is easily extensible. So what is the difference between React and React Native? React was originally…
February 20, 2017 in Learn
Scheduling Time-Sensitive Tasks in Android with the AlarmManager
In Android, the AlarmManager lets us schedule work to happen at a specific time. If your app has work to do and you’d like it to do that work even when the app isn’t running, then the AlarmManager might be…
November 10, 2016 in Learn
Unveiling the Mystery Behind a Java Abstraction
Working with any programming language involves some level of acceptance – accepting that what you’re using somehow works under the hood. Getting comfortable with abstractions is a critical step if you wish to accomplish anything other than reinventing all of the wheels….
September 21, 2016 in Learn
Making SharedPreferences Easy with Kotlin
Kotlin is all about letting us do more work with less code, and SharedPreferences are no exception. In this post we’re going to focus on making SharedPreferences as easy to use as possible, and by the end we’ll be able…
April 19, 2016 in Learn
Bundling Angular with webpack
I love building Angular applications. Because Angular is so modular you can separate your JavaScript code like your controllers and services into multiple files. But adding all of the script references to my HTML file is painful. If only there…
February 1, 2016 in Learn
How to Deploy a Static Site to Heroku
Heroku is a hosting platform where you can deploy dynamic applications in Rails, PHP, Node.js and Python web applications. Prerequisites In order to deploy a site you need a couple of things: Have git installed Heroku Account – sign up…
December 8, 2015 in Learn
Understanding Normal Maps
Most modern video game assets have multiple texture maps applied, and one of those maps is called a normal map. This is a technique in computer graphics that simulates high detail bumps and dents using a bitmap image. Real-time rendering in video games is…
November 3, 2015 in Learn
How to Make a Loading Screen in Unity
At some point or another, every game developer has to create a loading screen. Often, you’ll see a loading screen at the start of a game, or when entering a new area of the game. A loading bar or a spinning…
September 8, 2015 in Learn
How to Use Image Effects in Unity
Image effects in the Unity game engine can have a big impact on the look of your game. A bloom effect can turn harsh lighting into a warm sunny day, or an effect like color correction can make a landscape look…
August 10, 2015 in Learn
How to Use npm as a Task Runner
A task is something you need to do. If you want to perform that task over and over again, as you do in development, you’ll save yourself a lot of time if you automate the process. Common web development tasks include…
July 22, 2015 in Learn
Thinking Ahead: CSS Scroll Snap Points
CSS recently introduced a scroll snap points feature that gives users a fluid and precise scrolling experience for touch and input devices. There are plenty of jQuery plugins available that create scroll snap effects. But instead of installing a plugin…
July 14, 2015 in Learn
Learn How: Programmatically Open File Downloads in a New Window with JavaScript
Have you ever wanted a way to update all file download links on your site to have the behavior of opening a new browser window? This is a better user flow than having the user follow the link and then…