I’ve been using AI coding assistants in the day job for quite a few months now and they have enhanced my workflow the same as a web search did when sites like Stack Overflow boomed in popularity. I always have a good list of technologies I’ve either never touched or would like to brush up on so I decided I’d use a few different AI coding tools to aid my learning and see how they each compare for different tasks. ...
Setup the Backend # Having previously used Warp for a backend server I decided this would be a good chance to try out Axum. To start we need to install two dependencies Axum and Tokio cargo add axum cargo add tokio --features full Create a Server and Route # The Axum page on Crates.io has a good example of how to create a server and two routes. I simplified the code to just have a single GET route and changed the port the server listens on to avoid collision with our local Next. ...
Frontend # At the time of creating this NodeJS version 20 was the active release. I use NVM to manage my versions of Node. To set the currently use version of Node run the following command: nvm use v20 After installing Next.js I’ll add a .nvmrc file inside the frontend directory so the Node version can be set with: nvm use As per the official installation instructions I ran the following command: ...
I was fully aware of Terraform and it’s purpose. I’ve also worked closely with DevOps teams and have seen it in action but I’d never taken the time to look at it from the very beginning. I found the Terraform for absolute beginners course and it looked perfect for my needs. It didn’t take long to complete the course which contains some hands on exercises and I’m please to say I scored 100% in the final quiz and earned my certificate. ...
I’ve recently been taking more of an interest in Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR). After having a go with an Oculus Quest I decided to learn more about making software for the platform. I wanted a reasonably in depth course but not one that would take months to complete. So VR Development Fundamentals With Oculus Quest 2 And Unity on Udemy was the perfect fit. Having completed and enjoyed the course I’ve now got a book so I can do more of a deep dive into Unity. ...
I recently made my first Instagram filter using Spark AR Studio. Overall it was quick and straightforward to get started and I enjoyed using the application and making a filter. The outcome was a Christmas themed filter which I’m reasonably happy with. The hat was hard to position and after a lot of fiddling around I got it ok, but there is some improvements that could be made. The snow effect was quite simple to build and the random sizes enhances the effect. ...
I’ve been using Babbel for a few years now to learn Spanish and I find it a very well structured learning experience. Having completed lessons you are then prompted to review those items soon after and then again in the near future. If you correctly review items they are then presented for review periodically. I had got into a routine where I liked to clear my review items down to zero before doing any new lessons but a recent update to the app forced me into a change of habit. ...
I’ve always been a big fan of podcasts and these days there is plenty of choice. Here is a list of podcasts I currently subscribe to. There are some in there which sadly no longer put out content but archived episodes maybe of interest. /dev/hellAPIs You Won’t HateAthletes Unfiltered – Strava PodcastCall It A DayChoiceology with Katy MilkmanCodePen RadioDetectionsDuolingo Spanish PodcastFreakonomics RadioFull Stack RadioHeavyweightHow I Built This with Guy RazLullabot PodcastPalabras BravasPHP Town HallRadio AmbulanteReply AllShopTalk ShowSyntax – Tasty Web Development TreatsTalking DrupalThe Art of ManlinessThe Boagworld UX ShowThe F-WordThe Laravel PodcastThe Stack Overflow PodcastUnsupervised LearningVoices of the ElePHPant
Hello Something Plugin In a previous post I stepped through creating a basic Adapt plugin that outputs the static text Hello World https://ianluckraft.co.uk/2020/05/adapt-learning-hello-world-plugin/ . But a plugin that only outputs some static text is possibly less than useful. In this post we’ll look at the next logical step of allowing a course builder to add some dynamic text to the output. As a starter we will clone the Hello World plugin and then replace World with Something. ...
Laravel comes with some very good testing tools but I also wanted to use Vue’s testing tools on my components. I ended up reading quite a few tutorials and watching a few videos before finding enough information to get it working. I decided a good idea would be to list the most helpful resources and also setup a GitHub repo for future reference. My starting point was the series of videos on Laracasts. ...