ElementaryOS, Netbeans 8 and that smexy new Terminal

So, I downloaded the Netbeans 8 which still in beta but I like it! Some of the new things I like are:

1. The new smexy Terminal allowing me to run bower, grunt, yeoman commands without opening a separate Terminal - A BIG DEAL TO ME!
2. New themes allowing for easier-on-the-eyes coding - ie. Less eye strain due to glare
3. Better code hinting to JavaScript libs - although I only tried AngularJS
4. Cordova or PhoneGap support

Now just for icing on the cake, I'm been running around with ElementaryOS which I advise people to try out especially that Microsoft was really really killing WindowsXP and you can't stand Windows 8. ElementaryOS is just a sweet mod to Ubuntu/Debian so it's pretty easy to install and use. And about that icing on the cake, Netbeans 8 "seems" to boot up and run faster on this relatively old Core2Duo 2GB machine. When I was running Win7 on it, it kinda felt sluggish.

Some tips if you're new to Netbeans and you're doing web development:

1. Install the Emmet and Explore-from-here plugins
2. Print out the Keyboard Shortcuts - Try out the Ctrl+Tab to navigate between view

Keep on coding.

Since ElementaryOS, I needed an alternative to SQL Server Manager

I've had ElementaryOS running on my office PC since November last year and I've enjoyed it immensely. There's nothing like trolling Mac users thinking their desktop environment is unique.

But since I'm on, by all accounts, a linux box how do I access the database and let's face it, most days in an office we devs don't write a lick of code but instead doing queries, mining data for reports. Special kind of reports. Sounds familiar? And this is where I needed an alternative to SQL Server Manager since my company is using SQL SERVER. Enter DBeaver.

DBeaver is billed as a free universal database manager. Although, it doesn't have all the bells and whistles of SQL Server Manager it's got enough that I get my job done and it's free. Let me repeat that: Free.

To install this, we're gonna go the apt-get route:

$ wget -c http://dbeaver.jkiss.org/files/dbeaver_2.3.5_amd64.deb
$ sudo dpkg -i dbeaver_2.3.5_amd64.deb
$ sudo apt-get install -f

I'm install the 64-bit version.

For the purist, you could always download the tarball and install it from the source.

$ wget -c http://dbeaver.jkiss.org/files/dbeaver-2.3.5-linux.gtk.x86_64.zip
$ tar xvf dbeaver-2.3.5-linux.gtk.x86_64.zip
$ make install

After the install what's left is to download the drivers which you can do in dbeaver.

Changing my webapps development workflow

A few months ago, I though I was running a pretty good setup for doing web application development. It was built around Netbeans, auto-compiles (for Less, Sass or Coffeescript) and CDNs. I did chug out a lot of code and with a "run test" code bind, it worked out pretty good. This was until I started to get tired of tracking my JavaScript dependencies and that my Internet was acting iffy (F*** Y** PLDT).

Enter Yeoman. Yeoman is described as a bunch of tools that "improve your productivity and satisfaction" as web developer. I'd buy that. Nothing is more satisfying that looking at the text output of a console with a success message at the end.

Getting started with Yeoman is surprising easy since at minimum you only need Node.js. Node.js has an automated installer for Windows which makes is near stupid-proof. The Linux people, I don't have to worry. The details can be found at Yeoman's website.

To succeed with Yeoman, you need to understand the 3 core tools:

1. yo - tool to create (or scaffold) your app. If you're like me that tries out a lot of "flavor of the month" JS libs and whatnot, you'll like yo, a lot.
2. bower - script/lib gopher or dependency manager. That cool library needing "other" libraries? bower will get those and that cool library. 
3. grunt - is used to build, preview and test your project. You don't really have to config it since yo will already config grunt for your project. You just basically need to write the test. 

As for your workflow with Yeoman, it's quite simple:

1. Make folder -> go to folder
2. yo webapp
3. bower install library_name -> for example: bower install angular to install the latest angularJS
4. Repeat #3 until you have everything you need.
5. grunt server -> runs web server to preview your app
6. Write code, write, test fresh browser -> you don't have to stop, start the server to see changes
7. Repeat #6 unless you want to run test
• grunt test -> test runner
• Go to #5 if the tests fails or you want to tweak something
• Go to #8 if everything is A OK
8. grunt -> deployment

I'm using Netbeans with this workflow.

Merry Christmas everyone and happy coding.