Strategic Developer

Google Glass: Yes, it’s that bad

I craved a Google Glass until I wore one, when I found out it's an idea whose time hasn't come yet

Oct 14, 2013 6 mins

Small and Medium Business Software Development Technology Industry

Why MongoDB is worth $1.2 billion

If document database startup MongoDB is looking to thank someone for its hefty valuation, Larry Ellison should be first in line

By Andrew C. Oliver

Oct 10, 2013 6 mins

NoSQL Databases Open Source Technology Industry

Web app coders: Clean up your act!

When writing JavaScript front ends, is your workflow all over the place? Do you cling to repetitive actions instead of automating? Then this advice is for you

By Jonathan Freeman

Oct 3, 2013 7 mins

Agile Development HTML JavaScript

How to provision users in a cloud world

When subscribing to multiple SaaS offerings serving many users, it gets complicated quickly. Here's how to address the problem now and in the future

By Phil Rhodes

Sep 26, 2013 9 mins

Identity Management Solutions SaaS Software Development

The U.S.’s crap infrastructure threatens the cloud

Thanks to state-sponsored cable/phone duopolies, U.S. broadband stays slow and expensive -- and will probably impede cloud adoption

By Andrew C. Oliver

Sep 19, 2013 5 mins

Cloud Computing Software Development Technology Industry

17 things you should go ahead and cloud

Some companies are already sky high in cloudy goodness, while others are still procrastinating. The following items should rise to the top of your cloud priority list

By Andrew C. Oliver

Sep 12, 2013 7 mins

Careers Cloud Computing Software Development

The bare-bones cloud: Why bother?

IaaS plays like Amazon EC2 mainly provide a way for you to do what you're already doing for a little less money. PaaS and SaaS deliver a lot more

By Andrew C. Oliver

Sep 5, 2013 4 mins

IaaS PaaS SaaS

Why Microsoft .Net failed

Microsoft tried, but it couldn't win the hearts and minds of developers who weren't already indoctrinated -- and it alienated others along the way

By Andrew C. Oliver

Aug 29, 2013 5 mins

Software Development

In defense of Apache

Apache is great for many things, not so for others. Its proponents misunderstand its weaknesses, and its detractors misunderstand its strengths

By Andrew C. Oliver

Aug 26, 2013 11 mins

Open Source Software Development

6 technologies you should learn this year

There's a saying in tech: March or die -- so stop slacking and study up. Your cube mate is already on No. 4

By Andrew C. Oliver

Aug 22, 2013 6 mins

Careers GitHub Software Development

Java faces tough climb to catch up to .Net

By the time Java 8 comes out, it'll be another two to five years behind .Net -- and Microsoft's coordinated front

By Andrew C. Oliver

Aug 8, 2013 9 mins

Java

What are graph databases good for? Here’s a killer app

Still using an RDBMS for friend-of-a-friend queries? Big mistake. Enlist a graph database using Neo4j instead

By Andrew C. Oliver

Aug 1, 2013 6 mins

Databases NoSQL Databases Software Development

Love and hate for Java 8

Java 8 brings exciting developments, but as with any new technology, you can count on the good, the bad, and the headaches

By Andrew C. Oliver

Jul 25, 2013 14 mins

Java Software Development

How my company went 100 percent cloud

A drunk driver expedited our cloud migration. Here's how we swapped in-house apps for the cloud equivalents in record time

By Andrew C. Oliver

Jul 18, 2013 13 mins

Cloud Computing Software Development

How IT can learn to stop worrying and love the cloud

PaaS speeds dev times and lowers risk for new apps -- so why does so much IT bureaucracy stand in the way?

By Andrew C. Oliver

Jul 11, 2013 10 mins

Cloud Computing PaaS Software Development

Why you should care about your local hackerspace

Open centers of grassroots innovation, hackerspaces offer opportunities to source talent, create goodwill, and push technology forward

By Andrew C. Oliver

Jun 27, 2013 12 mins

Careers Hacking IT Skills

Improving K-12 education with shared data and open APIs

A fragmented school system means siloed data, custom apps, and high costs, but education startup InBloom offers a better way with a common data store and APIs any app can use

By Andrew C. Oliver

Jun 21, 2013 6 mins

IT Skills Software Development Technology Industry

Get real, Bill — we do need more H-1Bs for tech workers

Until we address underlying causes of developer shortage, we'll need all possible H-1B visas to keep the industry going

By Andrew C. Oliver

Jun 6, 2013 11 mins

Careers IT Jobs Software Development

Why PaaS? Dev, test, staging, no waiting

Deploying directly to your production cloud is all right -- really -- thanks to modern PaaS and NoSQL options

By Andrew C. Oliver

May 30, 2013 5 mins

Cloud Computing Software Development Technology Industry

Down with file attachments! Hail to the Google Docs API update

With massively refreshed Google Docs/Drive APIs, use JavaScript to integrate to your heart's content, create new apps

By Andrew C. Oliver

May 23, 2013 3 mins

Cloud Computing JavaScript SaaS

$200K for a computer science degree? Or these free online classes?

If you do the work, you can get a computer science education online rivaling that of the Ivy League. Here's a nice little curriculum for you

By Andrew C. Oliver

May 16, 2013 4 mins

IT Jobs IT Skills Software Development

The 14 characters you meet as a coder

Are you a Developer Diva? Perhaps a Holy Priest of technology? Or maybe you're the Hipster Hacker from Hell? Let's find out ...

By Andrew C. Oliver

May 9, 2013 7 mins

IT Jobs Java JavaScript

Who nailed the principles of great UI design? Microsoft, that’s who

A 12-year-old MSDN article still rings true -- and provides excellent guidance when JavaScript may be giving us too much to play with

By Jonathan Freeman

May 2, 2013 8 mins

Software Development Web Development

A first look at Gavin King’s Ceylon

Gavin King brought us Hibernate and Seam. Now he wants us to drink the Kool-Aid -- or rather the Ceylon tea -- once more

By Andrew C. Oliver

Apr 25, 2013 10 mins

Open Source Software Development

Code for America: Think global, code local

Code for America is bringing positive change, recruiting developers to apply simple Internet technologies to everyday municipal interactions

By Andrew C. Oliver

Apr 18, 2013 10 mins

Open Source Software Development Technology Industry

16 ways to torture developers

Hi, my name is Initech, and I have a developer abuse problem

By Andrew C. Oliver

Apr 4, 2013 9 mins

Agile Development Careers IT Jobs

How to teach a Java EE app new NoSQL tricks

Sun dumped JavaEE Pet Store, but a bright developer modernized it, and we ported it to NoSQL with Couchbase

By Andrew C. Oliver

Mar 28, 2013 12 mins

Java NoSQL Databases

Can TomEE save Java EE?

Founder of Apache TomEE project believes there's life left in the Java EE programming model, leads the charge to prove it

By Andrew C. Oliver

Mar 21, 2013 6 mins

Java Open Source PaaS

10 steps to becoming the developer everyone wants

You're a crack coder and people depend on you to solve their issues. Still not enough? Here's how to hit that next level

By Andrew C. Oliver

Mar 14, 2013 8 mins

Careers Software Development

The developer’s checklist to prepare for the cloud

Face it: You and your apps will eventually head to the cloud. Here are 12 tips to smooth the transition and avoid cloud lock-in

By Andrew C. Oliver

Mar 7, 2013 6 mins

Cloud Computing Java Technology Industry

Make performance and scalability testing continuous … or else

Bad developer habits die hard. If you don't load test as you go, you're asking for a nasty surprise at the end of your project

By Andrew C. Oliver

Feb 14, 2013 4 mins

Agile Development Development Tools Software Development

How do I freaking scale Oracle?

Contrary to the rants you read on Stack Overflow and Hacker News, Oracle is still your only option in many cases -- even when you need scalability and high availability

By Andrew C. Oliver

Feb 7, 2013 10 mins

NoSQL Databases Software Development Technology Industry

Java is still the most secure widespread runtime

Or why I don't care about the Java flaw. Are you a big Swing user? Excited over JavaFX on multiple platforms? Me neither

By Andrew C. Oliver

Jan 31, 2013 4 mins

Application Security Java Software Development

Web services are dead — long live REST

Once, an endless parade of Web service protocols promised to guarantee any system could talk to any other. In the end, we got much of that interoperability via simpler means

By Andrew C. Oliver

Jan 24, 2013 5 mins

JavaScript Software Development

In memory of Aaron Swartz: Stealing is not stealing

Why would a brilliant 26-year-old hacker face jail time usually given to murderers? Because of whom he 'stole' from

By Andrew C. Oliver

Jan 17, 2013 4 mins

Intellectual Property Software Development Technology Industry

What if Java 8 dropped ‘extends’?

Java is looking like everything including the kitchen sink. How about 'give one get one' for Java 8 -- and dropping inheritance entirely?

By Andrew C. Oliver

Jan 10, 2013 4 mins

Java Software Development

9 app dev projects you should cancel in 2013

Rolling your own in software wastes both time and money

By Andrew C. Oliver

Dec 20, 2012 7 mins

Software Development

Couchbase 2.0: This means war

Couchbase heats up the document database side of the NoSQL landscape. No matter what happens in this battle, we all win

By Andrew C. Oliver

Dec 13, 2012 4 mins

Databases NoSQL Databases Software Development

How to teach kids to code

Like many programmers, the author is self-taught, but we need meaningful learning experiences to feed the huge future demand for coders

By Andrew C. Oliver

Nov 29, 2012 6 mins

Software Development

My favorite project: The Internet of things in real life

Both <a href="http://www.infoworld.com/slideshow/65168/bossie-awards-2012-now-something-completely-different-202541#slide2">my nomination for the geekiest thing I've worked on</a> and the most important thing I've work....

By Andrew C. Oliver

Nov 26, 2012 6 mins

Open Source Software Development Technology Industry

10 things never to do with a relational database

The data explosion demands new solutions, yet the hoary old RDBMS still rules. Here's where you really shouldn't use it

By Andrew C. Oliver

Nov 15, 2012 6 mins

Databases NoSQL Databases Technology Industry

The looming cloud identity crisis

For now the answer to most identity problems is on-premises Active Directory integration. In an all-in cloud architecture, what do we do?

By Andrew C. Oliver

Nov 8, 2012 6 mins

Software Development

The all-in cloud architecture of tomorrow

I plan to practice what we preach in 2013 and move to an all-in-cloud architecture. It's a tall order

By Andrew C. Oliver

Nov 1, 2012 7 mins

Careers Cloud Computing Technology Industry

NoSQL is no Oracle killer

Over time, NoSQL and big data will slow Oracle RDBMS's long-term growth, but it won't deliver a death blow anytime soon -- except, perhaps, to Oracle RAC

By Andrew C. Oliver

Oct 25, 2012 6 mins

Hadoop NoSQL Databases Technology Industry

10 things you needn’t worry about in 2013

Tired of dreary <a href="http://www.infoworld.com/t/application-development/12-industry-disaster-scenarios-204574">disaster scenarios</a>? Then here's a grab bag of topics you shouldn't bother fretting over

By Andrew C. Oliver

Oct 19, 2012 6 mins

Cloud Computing Databases Technology Industry

Will the future be written entirely in JavaScript?

No popular language may be as maligned as JavaScript. But its migration to the server side opens the possibility it may become all-pervasive

By Andrew C. Oliver

Oct 9, 2012 6 mins

JavaScript Software Development

Ill-informed haters go after MongoDB

NoSQL databases like MongoDB are great for some tasks but not for others. Is it MongoDB's fault if misguided developers use it to solve the wrong problem?

By Andrew C. Oliver

Sep 27, 2012 8 mins

NoSQL Databases

Is a computer science degree worth the paper it’s printed on?

Self-taught technologists are almost always better hires than those with a BSCS and a huge student loan

By Andrew C. Oliver

Sep 11, 2012 4 mins

IT Skills

6 home truths about rockstar developers

You want the best and the brightest money can buy. Or do you? In fact, you're better served by a group of developers with mixed skill levels who focus on getting the job done

By Andrew C. Oliver

Aug 30, 2012 6 mins

IT Skills

What developers can learn from Anonymous

The reason Anonymous has a permanent place in our collective imagination: For a time, its organizational model worked very well

By Andrew C. Oliver

Aug 23, 2012 5 mins

Application Security

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Strategic Developer

Google Glass: Yes, it’s that bad

Why MongoDB is worth $1.2 billion

Web app coders: Clean up your act!

How to provision users in a cloud world

The U.S.’s crap infrastructure threatens the cloud

17 things you should go ahead and cloud

The bare-bones cloud: Why bother?

Why Microsoft .Net failed

In defense of Apache

6 technologies you should learn this year

Java faces tough climb to catch up to .Net

What are graph databases good for? Here’s a killer app

Love and hate for Java 8

How my company went 100 percent cloud

How IT can learn to stop worrying and love the cloud

Why you should care about your local hackerspace

Improving K-12 education with shared data and open APIs

Get real, Bill — we do need more H-1Bs for tech workers

Why PaaS? Dev, test, staging, no waiting

Down with file attachments! Hail to the Google Docs API update

$200K for a computer science degree? Or these free online classes?

The 14 characters you meet as a coder

Who nailed the principles of great UI design? Microsoft, that’s who

A first look at Gavin King’s Ceylon

Code for America: Think global, code local

16 ways to torture developers

How to teach a Java EE app new NoSQL tricks

Can TomEE save Java EE?

10 steps to becoming the developer everyone wants

The developer’s checklist to prepare for the cloud

Make performance and scalability testing continuous … or else

How do I freaking scale Oracle?

Java is still the most secure widespread runtime

Web services are dead — long live REST

In memory of Aaron Swartz: Stealing is not stealing

What if Java 8 dropped ‘extends’?

9 app dev projects you should cancel in 2013

Couchbase 2.0: This means war

How to teach kids to code

My favorite project: The Internet of things in real life

10 things never to do with a relational database

The looming cloud identity crisis

The all-in cloud architecture of tomorrow

NoSQL is no Oracle killer

10 things you needn’t worry about in 2013

Will the future be written entirely in JavaScript?

Ill-informed haters go after MongoDB

Is a computer science degree worth the paper it’s printed on?

6 home truths about rockstar developers

What developers can learn from Anonymous

Show me more

Databricks adds Data Science Agent to automate analytics tasks

Rust Innovation Lab launched, sponsors first project

PostgreSQL 18 to boost OLTP performance, but misses AI readiness

Getting encryption wrong (and getting it right, too)

How to build a native desktop app vs. a web UI app

PyApp: Build click-to-run Python apps with Rust