TPDP Episode #8: Asynchronous and Event-Based Programming with RxJS

When it comes to modern JavaScript development, there are a few different ways to handle asynchronous events or data. You could use promises and callbacks, but as great as they are, present certain limitations. This is where RxJS comes into play with its reactive programming model. In this episode of The Polyglot Developer Podcast, guest speaker Ben Lesh and I discuss RxJS and where it fits in modern JavaScript development, whether it be server-side or front-end.

Ben Lesh is a senior software engineer at the very popular entertainment streaming company, Netflix. One of Ben’s projects at Netflix includes the development and maintenance of RxJS since it is heavily used by the company. In the eighth episode, Asynchronous and Event-Based Programming with RxJS we discuss everything from what is RxJS, how it was inspired, who is using it, and why you should use it over a few of the alternative methods. If you’ve ever heard of RxJava or Rx.NET, these projects share some similarities to RxJS.

Create An Amazon Alexa Skill Using Node.js And AWS Lambda

Recently I published my first skill for Amazon’s Alexa voice service called, BART Control. This skill used a variety of technologies and public APIs to become useful. In specific, I developed the skill with Node.js and the AWS Lambda service. However, what I mentioned is only a high level of what was done to make the Amazon Alexa skill possible. What must be done to get a functional skill that works on Amazon Alexa powered devices?

We’re going to see how to create a simple Amazon Alexa skill using Node.js and Lambda that works on various Alexa powered devices such as the Amazon Echo.

BART Control Skill For Amazon’s Alexa Released

I am pleased to announce that my first ever skill for Amazon Alexa powered devices has gone live in the Amazon Skill Marketplace. My skill, BART Control, accesses live information about the Bay Area Rapid Transit system in northern California.

If you’re unfamiliar with Amazon Alexa, it can be described as follows per Amazon:

Alexa, the voice service that powers Echo, provides capabilities, or skills, that enable customers to interact with devices in a more intuitive way using voice. Examples of these skills include the ability to play music, answer general questions, set an alarm or timer and more. Alexa is built in the cloud, so it is always getting smarter. The more customers use Alexa, the more she adapts to speech patterns, vocabulary, and personal preferences.

I personally own an Amazon Echo, but there is a wide variety of hardware that is compatible with Amazon’s voice service.

Now let me share some specifics about the skill that I developed and what I used to develop it.

Create Native iOS And Android Plugins With NativeScript

In my previous NativeScript tutorials I demonstrated how to access native platform APIs and features using JavaScript, but I never explained how to develop plugins that could accomplish this in a very maintainable fashion. By moving this native functionality to plugins, the application code remains a lot cleaner and is better for the long run.

For reference, you can see how to create Toast notifications in Android and determine the application version in Android and iOS using my previous tutorials.

This time we’re going to look at bundling that functionality into a plugin.

TPDP Episode #5: Developing Mobile Apps with Telerik NativeScript

There are a lot of different ways to develop mobile applications. On my first two podcast episodes I discussed some of these app development solutions, but this time I’m doing a followup on one in particular. In this episode of The Polyglot Developer Podcast, guest speaker TJ VanToll and I are going to take a deeper look at Telerik NativeScript, who should be using it, and what separates it from the other frameworks that exist.

TJ VanToll is a Developer Advocate for Telerik and is working on making the NativeScript framework a success for developers and enterprises. In Episode #5: Developing Mobile Apps with Telerik NativeScript, we’re going to cover everything that can be covered without actually looking at code. I ask TJ questions that I often receive on my blog as well as at events.

Add Type Definitions To An External JavaScript File In TypeScript

Not too long ago I wrote an article that explained how to include external JavaScript libraries in an Angular TypeScript project. To summarize that post, my goal was to show how to use any of the millions of JavaScript libraries that exist online within a TypeScript application. I received a lot of heat from that article saying that I am missing the point of TypeScript because in the end I wasn’t using any type definitions. I disagree because not every library that exists on the internet will have a set of type definitions. In that sense the article still proves very useful.

This time around, I want to explain how to include type definitions in your project, should they exist. I won’t be going over the entire Angular demo again, but the JavaScript library will be the same and it will still be a functional application.

My Experience Developing with Telerik NativeScript

I’ve been using Telerik NativeScript for a few months now and figured it would now be appropriate to share my experience and opinions of the framework. I’ve already compared NativeScript against Ionic Framework, but this article is going to be a little different.

I have no plans to make comparisons against other frameworks in this article. Instead we’re going to take a look at what NativeScript can and can’t do and how I feel about everything. This article will be opinion based more than anything.