Articles by David Bolton
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Programming for .NET Core: A Beginner's Walkthrough
Since its first appearance in 2002, the .NET framework has been a major success for Windows. Along the way, it spawned the .NET Compact Framework on Windows CE, as well as the .NET Micro Framewor… -
Testing and Automating an Old Code Base
At work, I'm part of a team that maintains a software product in the proptech sector. It’s popular (i.e. it sells well, generates revenue, and dominates its particular sub-market), and as a resul… -
The Fall and Rise of Dart, Google's 'JavaScript Killer'
Seven years ago, Google unveiled Dart, a general-purpose programming language. Version 1.0, released in late 2013, was meant as a replacement for JavaScript in browsers; it also had its own virtu… -
Exploring Magic Methods in Python 3 is Vital for Programmers
The Python documentation, although generally pretty good, lacks a reference list to so-called “magic methods.” A method is the name for a function in a Python class, and many built-in methods are… -
Is WebAssembly the Web GUI Future?
The desktop Graphical User Interface (GUI) has been with us since the 1990s, when Windows became mainstream. Out went character-based screens, replaced by icons and multiple fonts, selectable via… -
The State of Structured Query Language (SQL) in 2019
In 1974, Abba won the Eurovision song contest with “Waterloo.” That same year saw the birth of Structured Query Language (SQL). Created as a standardized language for relational database manageme… -
XML vs. JSON: What's the Difference for Developers?
Programming is not just about writing code. If you have a few years of programming experience under your belt, you'll have no doubt encountered the issue of moving data between processes or compu… -
Blast from the Past: Retrieving Old Game Source Code
Way back in 1985, I created games on the ZX Spectrum/Timex and CBM-64. A friend and I set up a small software house, and in addition to creating our own games, we also (and more lucratively) conv… -
State of C Programming Language in 2019
In four years’ time, C will reach its 50th birthday, an anniversary also shared with PL/M and Prolog. Unlike those two, C remains immensely popular, it’s in the top ten of virtually every program… -
5 Programming Languages You May Not Have Heard Of
Before the Web became ubiquitous, it was difficult to promote a new programming language. The most popular ones were either pushed by a manufacturer (such as Fortran, originally developed by IBM…