I just had to record this quote from the Harvard Gazette.
“If you’re going to worry about what people say, you’re never going to make any progress,â€
The first REST based code I wrote for the Mac and iOS was my P8 Library for ping.fm. That code is all NSRequest based and I learned a lot while doing it. Since that time I’ve done a couple more projects that consumed REST Services and XML or JASON.
To that end I thought I’d record some of the libraries I’ve run across. Some I’ve used, others are a curiosity.
ASIHTTP – I’ve used this library a couple of times and I’m using it on a new project. I like it, but the developer that lovingly created it is giving up on it because people gave him too much crap. That’s a real shame, not only that he’s done with it, but that people would harass him so much he gave up on a very handy piece of code.
LRResty – A simple REST/HTTP client. Apparently this library was inspired by a Ruby implementation. I’m fairly certain this is the library I’ll be moving to this in the future.
RestKit – This library not only deals with retrieving data, it will also map it into Core Data. Pretty cool, and if you have need to cache data locally it would be worth looking at.
SBJson – A very nice JSON parser. It’s simple to use and includes handy categories for NSString and NSDictionary. It’s very simple to create a parser and operate on the results, just like you would an NSDictionary.
SBJsonParser* jsonParser = [[SBJsonParser new] autorelease]; id jsonObject = [jsonParser objectWithString:jsonString];
JSONKit – This is a parser I only recently discovered, and it’s known to be fast and efficient. It’s also super easy to use because of, you guessed it, categories. There’s a real nice one added to NSString.
NSDictionary* response = [[request responseString] objectFromJSONString];
See how easy that is to use? You simply invoke objectFromJSONString to get a fully parsed result jammed into an NSDictionary.
Soooooo, why are banks not allowing people to withdraw their money? Can they do that? It doesn’t seem right, does it?
The peasants are the gate, and they’re not happy.
Jeff Atwood: “But as a software developer, I am deeply ambivalent about an Apple dominated future. Apple isn’t shy about cultivating the experience around their new iOS products and the App Store. There are unusually strict, often mysterious rules around what software developers can and cannot do — at least if they want entry into the App Store. And once you’re in, the rules can and will change at any time. Apple has cracked down several times already:”
Jeff, it’s ok to feel this way. You have other vendors to choose from. Android and Windows Phone 7 to name a couple of great ones.
I’m an iOS developer, not a popular one like Marco Arment, but an iOS developer all the same. I’m ok with giving Apple a 30% cut of my revenues. It’s a part of doing business. I benefit from their infrastructure. They’ve given me store space, server space, they’ve provided a way to install applications and manage upgrades, and they collect money for me so I don’t have to deal with credit card companies and the like. It’s not such a bad deal.
Now, I’m not disparaging Jeff for his opinion on the matter. It’s like a lot of things in life. We have different opinions. He just can’t live with the idea, and that’s perfectly fine. Jeff has contributed a lot to computing and computer science and I look forward to reading his insightful articles for a long time to come. I just may not agree with him. (Psssst, that’s ok.)
Move On: “Security locked Citibank customers inside as they arrested 23 #OccupyWallStreet protesters for attempting to close their bank accounts during a mass public action this afternoon. Watch the live stream as protesters march on Times Square at 3:00pm on Saturday.”
This simply cannot be the whole story. There is nothing illegal about withdrawing your funds from a bank.
The worst possible thing these folks could’ve done is made a scene while withdrawing their funds. Carrying a sign announcing your intentions is fine, but making a huge scene is unnecessary, and it’s not what the OWS movement needs.
If, on the other hand, the protesters were respectful, quiet, and peaceful, being held against your will is a crime.
Good morning folks!
We had a couple of guesses, both said Pulp Fiction. Good guess, but not the correct one.
The correct answer was…
Thanks for the idea Bill, it stumped folks.
Back in 1993, maybe 1994, as Visio was growing we were running short on space. There was this little space that was essentially a closet and I thought it would make a great office, so I moved in.
I just ran across a picture of it while I was browsing through some old pictures.
There are some interesting things to point out, at least I think they’re interesting.
In the upper left you’ll notice what looks like a little blue motor, that’s because it is. Our space in Westlake Center was kind of funky. That blue motor operated a garage door that opened into a meeting room, which later became the office of our IT guy, Neal Myrick, if memory serves.
On the door you’ll notice a notice a small piece of cardboard taped to it. That cardboard read “Will write C code for food.” I thought it had been lost forever then I happened across it when we moved from Exeter to San Luis Obispo. It’s safely packed away in storage.
On the shelves in the background you’ll notice pictures of my lovely wife, Kim, and our daughters; Haileigh and Taylor. Our girls were babies then, now they’re all grown up. Haileigh is married and Taylor is in college.
The top row on the shelves are some of the first copies of Visio 1.0 and 2.0 to roll off the assembly line. The Visio 2.0 boxes have a red 2.0 in the lower right corner of the yello Visio writing. Yes, we shipped software in boxes on things called floppy discs. John Marshall maintains a nice History of Visio page.
The hunk of acrylic sitting in front of the boxes is the Visio 1.0 “tombstone” given to each employee that worked on the product. It’s funny I don’t have a closeup to share. I think it was packed away with the rest of my Visio keepsakes, including a copy of every version of Visio I ever worked on.
On the second row of shelves you’ll notice three beer bottles. Red Hook ESB, Winter Hook, and Ballard Bitter. Yeah, I like their beer.
On my desk you’ll notice a blue coffee mug. It was our gift for shipping version 2.0. The mug is blue with Visio in yellow and a red 2.0 on the “O” in VISIO. Around the rim, on the inside, it says “Rob Fahrni.” I love that mug. When we find a permanent residence and I can dig out all my Visio memorabilia it’ll be put in a nice case with everything else.
The top picture on the wall behind my computer is a screen shot that includes an add-on I wrote for Visio called TPalette. It allowed you to create customizable floating tool palettes of different commands. It was pretty sweet. It was created at a time before Visio supported COM and automation. That version of our add-on API was all C based and was never released because Microsoft released OLE 2.0 and COM, the rest is history.
Good morning movie liners! I hope you’re ready? This mornings line comes from a friend, Mr. Bill Lazar.
Good luck! Here’s the line…
Ok, quick, what movie! Send your guesses here.
Asymco: “Windows Phone is in limbo. The company acknowledged that it has performed below expectations. During the last quarter for which we have data (ending June) I have an estimate that Windows Phone sold only 1.4 million units (Gartner’s sell-through analysis suggests 1.7 million). That gives Microsoft a 1.3% share of units sold (Gartner 1.6%), a new low.”
1.4 to 1.7 million units in a quarter. Compare that to 1 million iPhone’s in a day.
It’s too bad, really, the Windows Phone OS is pretty darned nice and Microsoft has shortened release times, which is super nice.
Hopefully they don’t give up, it’s good for all the smartphone makers to be pushed by each other.
Chipotle: “This Halloween, we’re celebrating family farms and their dedication to the land they live on and the delicious food they produce. To join in on the party, come into any Chipotle on Halloween from 6 pm to closing dressed in a costume inspired by the family farm and we’ll hook you up with a burrito, bowl, salad, or an order of tacos made with responsibly raised ingredients for just $2.”
Hey, who doesn’t love a nice barbacoa burrito, and you support local farmers while you’re at it. It’s a win-win!
