Articles by David Bolton
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Scripting Languages You May Not Know
Scripting languages are used in everything from games and Web pages to operating-system shells and general applications, as well as standalone scripts. They allow the harried developer to do his… -
Is Microsoft Truly Embracing Open Source?
Back in the day, Microsoft viewed open source and Linux as a threat and did its best to retaliate with FUD and patent threats. So it must have been galling to its executives as, over the past 20… -
Is C Still Relevant in the 21st Century?
Many programming languages have come and gone since Dennis Ritchie devised C in 1972, and yet C has not only survived three major revisions, but continues to thrive. Large chunks of Windows were… -
Substitute PostgreSQL for Your NoSQL Needs
Over the past five years or so, NoSQL databases have enjoyed a spike in popularity compared to relational (i.e., SQL-driven) databases, thanks in large part to industries such as online gaming. A… -
Python 3 String-Processing Causing Problems?
Widely known as a general-purpose programming language, Python is excellent at string handling—but a few things have changed between Python 2 and Python 3. This article is a reminder of what Pyth… -
Here's Why Apple Rejected Your iOS App
After six years, do you think the number of submissions to the App Store has stayed level, climbed, or fallen? As demonstrated by this chart of the App Store’s metrics (hat tip to Pocket Gamer),… -
Building Apps in Swift: Using Storyboards
In our previous article on building apps with Apple’s Swift, we demonstrated how to use view controllers and views in code to craft a simple app. Before we begin with this next lesson, using stor… -
A Look at 5 Free Python Editors
Python programming can be done from the command line, but an IDE makes life so much easier. With so many options out there, which one should you use? To help you decide, I've looked at five Pytho… -
How to Build Apps in Swift
Earlier this year, Apple executives unveiled Swift, which is meant to eventually replace Objective-C as the programming language of choice for Macs and iOS devices. While Objective-C remains popu… -
Passing Functions as Parameters
When I first started programming in the late 1970s, I was heavily into Pascal and the concept of passing an address as a parameter was just unheard of outside of academic circles. Procedural prog…