Systems Integration
Dec 19 2012
CocoaConf Raleigh Recap: iOS Concurrency
I recently attended several interesting technical sessions at the CocoaConf in Raleigh. In this post I'd like to give an overview of one particular session regarding iOS Concurrency, presented by Jonathan Blocksom of Big Nerd Ranch. (http://www.bignerdranch.com/instructors/blocksom_jonathan)
The focus was on creating separate threads of execution in an iOS application. While early versions of iOS only provided one means of creating threads, NSThread, in iOS 3.2 Apple added additional ways to create and manage threads - Grand Central Dispatch (GCD) and NSOperationQueue. Jonathan's session touched on the advantages/disadvantages of the two newer approaches.
Jonathan’s executive summary stated that both Grand Central Dispatch (GCD) and NSOperationQueue offer the following advantages over NSThread:
Dec 13 2012
Sitecore Sitemap Shared Source Module: Configuring for Scaled Environments
INTRODUCTION
Sitecore is by far the best content management system (CMS) with which I've had the pleasure of implementing. My colleagues and I have sat around the table on numerous occasions talking about how well put together it seems to be. As we've proceeded to become more comfortable with the tool set we have discovered however, that what seems to be missing occasionally is detailed guidance for scaled environments with respect to the numerous modules available. Such is the case with the Sitecore Sitemap Shared Source module.
Dec 11 2012
The Sitecore Best Practices Series: Part 1 - Use the API Luke…
INTRODUCTION
Very few project rollouts occur without the need to do last minute data cleanup. This activity most frequently occurs following a discussion with the stakeholders in which the need for the data cleanup is revealed. The side effects differ by project but most often it translates to some part of the system exhibiting less than favorable behavior. The need to resolve these types of data anomalies quickly can drive our decision making process in how we resolve them. The haste we exhibit can often lead to less than desirable results. Avoiding the “Dark Side” in these situations is actually quite simple. In short, use the API.
Nov 29 2012
iOS: Getting Started with Accelerometer Data
A lot of cool technologies have evolved on the mobile computing platform in recent years. One of the more interesting hardware developments is the ability to detect and respond to physical motion. Most mobile devices today deploy a host of onboard instruments for this very purpose.
Although individual iOS device models might only support some hardware instruments, information from any available instrument can be accessed using the Core Motion framework. The post will walk you through the required classes and methods as included in the example project below titled CoreMotionAccelerometer.
The Hardware
Nov 26 2012
Should your business go mobile?
Let’s face it – mobile computing is now firmly settled into the DNA of our daily lives. To state the obvious, it seems everything and everyone is somehow connected via the mobile platform. In relatively few short years a new and valuable market has emerged on our smartphones and tablets. As such, business of all sizes are rightly asking themselves if this is the time to “go mobile” with their product and services.
And while the particulars of each business will differ, the basic questions surrounding mobile opportunities are the same. Any business considering jumping on the mobile platform should think through many things, but the driving question behind all other questions is this:
Does mobile make sense for my customers, my products and services, and my business?