Archive → March, 2010
Simple fileshare service – proof of concept
I’ve just concluded my proof of concept tests with Google App Engine (Java version) – and so far I’m happy!
I am writing a simple file-sharing service – I tend to use the term ‘drop-box’ a lot when explaining about it. The concept has now been proven (sending e-mails back and forth – log-in – upload – storage etc.) so now I am looking for some cool graphics/icons on iconfinder to make it look good.
I will post a more thorough description of the application – with links – as soon as I’m done with the first public version.
Surrogate Characters?!
Some time ago I/we ran into a problem at work.
The file format that our software uses for saving and loading projects are basicly a ZIP-archive containing XML. We started noticing some strange error reports that all pointed in the direction of the save-method. This is one part of the program that have never really caused any problems before. The exception being thrown said something about “surrogate character”… More specificly invalid high surrogate… This was the first time I’d heard that term so I quickly googled it and found the answer: Something in the string being saved in the XML-document was in an invalid byte range. How nice…
This is particular funny because the input data came from Excel 2007 files, which is also ZIP-archives containing XML… Which means that the .NET conversion from XML to unicode string and back to XML was failing… ! The solution was to sanitize the strings before putting them in the XML-document for output – something that seems like a nasty hack I didn’t really need if the XML-output code in .NET would encode the strings properly.
The good thing about standards…
Sadly the good thing about standards is that there are so many!
Or to put it in other words: Silverlight – I don’t get what the fuzz is about!
We already have applets (Java) and flash… To be honest – the only real reason to add another technology to the list of shockingly overlapping solutions is that it is powered by .NET and backed by Miscrosoft…
(ok ok – I know – Silverlight isn’t new – not even by a long shot – but I really still find it kind of redundant)
I have been researching web technologies and programming languages for a future project – and the overwhelming array of redundant technologies left we with a slightly confused feeling. Anyway – I know what road to take – I suspect that I actually did before doing my research.
FFXIII – from a developer perspective
The other day (march 9th) FFXIII was released in europe.
The game was first announced in 2006 which means it has been in development for at least 3-4 years. In the entertainment and gaming industry this is a very long time. This long wait is comparable to the development time of Gran Turismo 5. But why are these games taking so long?!
Well – actually they have something in common. They are both the first installment on the new platform (PlayStation 3 / Xbox 360) in the brand new era of HD gaming. Both series have been known to deliver bleeding edge graphic experiences since the PlayStation days (look – no version number on the PlayStation – that’s how we did it back then!) pushing the consoles capabilities beyond known limits.
To fully achieve this in the current market with the current consoles obviously required a lot of work. A lot of hard ground building work. But since the known capabilities of the consoles are currently a moving target the development might have been affected by sliding requirements. I don’t have any sources that backs this claim but I certainly hope that the new installments are build on top of some robust engines that will allow scalability for some years. Thank good HD-tv’s don’t go beyond 1080p now they’ve delivered games with that performance.
Ready, set, Go!
I’m currently experimenting with Go.
I would really recommend anyone who takes programming seriously to have a look at it. What I’ve seen so far is very nice. I mean VERY nice.
The concept and idea behind the language (we need a new systems programming language) is very good – I’m sure this will be big! And those of you caring about size and speed – well – go manage your own memory!
