Check And Update Outdated NPM Packages

March 4, 2015 Nic Raboy

The Node Package Manager (NPM), is becoming a major go-to resource for all development software and libraries. It is easy to use and covers a lot of ground.

If you’re anything like me you’re going to have more than twenty global packages installed on your machine through NPM, but how do you go about tracking whether or not any of them have become outdated?

Create A Todo List Mobile App Using Ionic Framework

March 1, 2015 Nic Raboy

Since writing my two tutorials regarding using SQLite in Ionic Framework and shipping an app with a pre-populated database, I’ve received many requests for a tutorial for making a full blown app. I listen to my readers, so I figured what better way to show such an example, than to create a todo-list type application.

In this tutorial, I hope to accomplish the following:

• Shipping a pre-populated / pre-filled SQLite database
• Access the SQLite database and perform operations based on user input
• Include a WebSQL alternative for testing via a web browser
• Navigate between views using the AngularJS UI-Router
• Remove todo items from your list using swipe gestures

All items that I wish to accomplish have seen their own tutorials. If you’re familiar with the Marvel comic book movies, you’ll know that every hero has their own story, then they meet up for the bigger picture in an Avengers movie. Think of this tutorial like that.

Get Available Free Disk Space Using Apache Cordova

February 27, 2015 Nic Raboy

It was brought to my attention that the File plugin for Apache Cordova has no documented methods for finding the available disk space on a device.

This does not mean that you cannot figure out how much space is available on your users device because you can make use of Apache Cordova’s nifty cordova.exec function.

Reverse Words In A String Using JavaScript

February 25, 2015 Nic Raboy

Back on the topic of possible programming interview questions, you may at some time in your career be asked to reverse words in a string. This is a much simpler problem and may be more likely to appear on a technical phone screening.

In it’s simplest form, you would assume all space separated string collections to be words. To clarify, it doesn’t matter if you’re looking at a true word or just some jumbled text separated by a space character.

Using WebSQL Instead of Local Storage In Your Web App

February 22, 2015 Nic Raboy

When developing web applications a common way to store data is to use local storage. This NoSQL approach is great, but what if you’re coming from an RDBMS? With HTML5, you have access to the WebSQL API which allows us to use SQL queries for handling client side storage.

This guide will show you how to use the WebSQL API, which is based around SQLite, in your web application. This information can even be extended for use with mobile hybrid applications.

Using The Native Device Calendar In Ionic Framework

February 19, 2015 Nic Raboy

A while back one of my subscribers asked me how to integrate the native device calendar into their Ionic Framework mobile application. I didn’t know at first, but after some research I found a great Apache Cordova plugin by Eddy Verbruggen called PhoneGap Calendar Plugin.

Don’t let the plugin name fool you. PhoneGap still works on Apache Cordova, just like Ionic Framework.

This guide will show you how to use the native device calendar with Ionic Framework using the AngularJS extension set, ngCordova.

Why I’ve Gone Hybrid Over Native For Mobile Apps

February 17, 2015 Nic Raboy

I started developing mobile Android applications in late 2011. It wasn’t until 2012 that I released my first application to the Android Marketplace, now known as the Google Play Store. Up until early 2014, I only made native Android applications using the official Android SDK. As of now, I have only been using web technologies to create mobile hybrid applications for Android and iOS.

The following will explain why I’ve chosen to develop using modern web technologies rather than native mobile languages.