All About Java Modifier Keywords

May 8, 2015 Nic Raboy

I’ve been a Java programmer for a while now, however, recently someone asked me a question regarding one of Java modifier keywords and I had no clue what it was. This made it obvious to me that I needed to brush up on some Java that goes beyond actual coding and algorithms.

After a few Google searches, I got bits and pieces on the topic, but never really the full story, so I’m using this post as a way to document the subject. This is a great interview question to test your computer science book-smarts.

Sort An Integer Array Using Bubble Sort With Java

May 4, 2015 Nic Raboy

Previously you saw an implementation of Quicksort, one of the better sorting algorithms. This time we’re going to look at a much inferior sorting algorithm which generally makes its appearance in introduction to computer science type courses. I’m talking about the Bubble Sort algorithm.

Bubble Sort via Wikipedia:

Bubble sort, sometimes referred to as sinking sort, is a simple sorting algorithm that repeatedly steps through the list to be sorted, compares each pair of adjacent items and swaps them if they are in the wrong order.

The Bubble Sort algorithm is sub-par because of the outrageous time-complexity that it has for all sorting calls and we’re going to see why.

Create A Minesweeper Game With Native Android

May 1, 2015 Nic Raboy

So recently I was presented with a challenge. Make a Minesweeper game using native Android with no additional frameworks such as Unity3D or similar.

Minesweeper via Wikipedia:

A single-player puzzle video game. The objective of the game is to clear a rectangular board containing hidden “mines” without detonating any of them, with help from clues about the number of neighboring mines in each field.

This task can be accomplished many ways. For example we could choose to use OpenGL, a 2D canvas, or something else. In this particular tutorial we’re going to be using a 2D canvas because it is simple and acceptable for a game with minimal to no animations.;

Create A Couchbase Lite Todo List With Native Android

April 29, 2015 Nic Raboy

By now, if you’ve been keeping up with my tutorials, you can probably put two-and-two together and determine that I’m really trying to get into the NoSQL world. Up until now I’ve brushed upon Google Firebase, Facebook Parse, and Apache CouchDB, most of which I’ve done some kind of todo list type application. Now of course, many of my previous tutorials were based on hybrid app development instead of native.

This time we’re going to take a look at Couchbase’s version of NoSQL in a mobile Android application. In particular a native Android application.

Sort An Integer Array With the Quicksort Algorithm And Java

April 27, 2015 Nic Raboy

Circling back to data structures and algorithms, we’re now going to take a look at the efficient sorting algorithm known as Quicksort.

Quicksort via Wikipedia:

Sometimes called partition-exchange sort, is an efficient sorting algorithm, serving as a systematic method for placing the elements of an array in order.

The idea behind Quicksort is to take a large array of values and divide it into two smaller arrays, doing this recursively, and swapping elements.

This is one of the fundamental algorithms you’ll learn in any computer science course. It is also a very good question that could be asked in a job interview for an engineering type position. I’m going to help you through it using Java.

Using Gradle In Your Command Line Android Project

April 24, 2015 Nic Raboy

I’ve been developing mobile Android applications since 2011 and up until now I’ve been using nothing but Apache Ant for building them.

Now you’re probably like, it is 2015, why aren’t you using Gradle like the rest of the world? Well, I like Apache Ant, and I had no real reason to switch. However, I’ve decided this is the year I jump ship.

If you’re like me, a no IDE rebel coming from an Apache Ant world for Android development, this might help you out in making the switch to Gradle.

Adding Background Images To Ionic Framework Apps

April 21, 2015 Nic Raboy

I started working on an app and decided it was time to step up my design game. Usually my apps suffer from looking plain or dated even though they have some insanely awesome functionality (ex: OTP Safe). However, after looking at many other apps, I came to the conclusion that an app can look more attractive just by including a logo or some other kind of branding images.

The tricky part here is, how might you add images to your Ionic Framework application and have them look good across devices with multiple screen densities? After doing some research I found that this could easily be accomplished by using background images created with CSS.