Introduction
I’m a software developer and team leader based in Christchurch, New Zealand, using agile development processes and
open source frameworks to start delivering and keep delivering.
My full résumé is in my LinkedIn profile.
You can email me at geeks#stephen.viles.geek.nz (change # to @). I don’t have an account on either Facebook or Twitter, although other people named Stephen Viles do.
Short articles I’ve written
Producing CSV files from Java for French and German
I’ve been applying some limited internationalization to a US-centric Java-based web app: producing CSV files that give intelligible results when opened in Excel, without having to switch your Windows regional settings. Here are a few things I’ve learned along the way. Full article
New York City travel tips
Here’s a few tips on Manhattan street layout, getting around, security, eating and drinking, and swimming. Full article
Introduction to Java web applications
I used the following material to give a one-hour overview of Java and web applications to a group of developers experienced in the Microsoft ecosystem. Full article
Removing line noise with a user style sheet
I find text with underlining or strikethough difficult to read, so I use the following user style sheet to remove it, except when hovering over links. Full article
A pattern for scripts that update data
The following Bash script is designed to be run from a crontab entry. It performs a database update (using Oracle’s sqlplus), checks the output for errors, and adds a success or failure comment to a JIRA ticket by sending an email to the JIRA instance. Full article
Moving from Blogger to nanoc
Blogger are shutting down their (S)FTP facility, so I’m moving to nanoc. I’ve redirected all current URLs and given the site a minor refresh. Full article
What’s the problem we’re trying to solve?
When a discussion starts to get overly general, and seems to be generating more problems than solutions, a simple question can help regain some focus. Full article
Hibernate trap: Do not directly access fields in another entity instance
Hibernate is great, but about once a year we get bitten by using it incorrectly. Latest lesson: Don’t directly access fields on any instance other than ‘this’. Use the appropriate getter instead. Full article
Comparing XML using line-oriented diff tools
If you need to compare two XML files that have only a few differences, you can use vimdiff or other line-oriented diff tools. You first need to format the XML with one attribute per line. Full article
Correct, in error, appropriate, or inappropriate? How are you going to know?
Today a colleague sent a diagram dividing a system into ‘correct’ and ‘in error’ portions through phases of waterfall development. Full article
These articles are provided in the hope they will be useful, but without warranty of any kind.
You are best to use your own judgement for your own situation. Be selective, be objective,
be an asset to the collective
(thanks Soul II Soul)
Copyright © Stephen Viles. You can share or adapt this material under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 New Zealand license. This site is built with nanoc and hosted by NearlyFreeSpeech.NET.