Leap from Beginner to Intermediate Developer PART III

TIP # 3: Learn good programming habits

Quality makes the application masterpiece and it's the responsibility of the developers to focus more on high quality coding. Nothing marks an inexperienced programmer like bad variable/function names, poor indentation habits, improper formatting, confusing/un-wanted comments and other signs of being sloppy. All too often, a developer learned how to program without being taught the less interesting details such as code formatting. Even though learning these things will not always make your code better or you a better developer, it will ensure that you are not viewed as an entry-level developer by your peers. Even if someone is a senior developer, when variables are named after their favorite verbs as opposed to meaningful names or their functions are called “doSomething(), they look like they do not know what they are doing, and it makes their code harder to maintain in the process.

Let me take example of indentation. It’s really a bad practice to use spaces to indent; instead use tabs. A tab character represents a virtual indent. If you want to indent two levels, use two tabs. The problem with spaces is that nobody ever uses the same number of spaces for indentation, even within the same file. Some people use eight spaces; others use four; some use two; and still others use some crazy in-between variation. Manually adding or removing indentation is tedious and error-prone because you have to add or delete the proper number of spaces.

You would be glad to know about Octaware’ initiative of a developer session being planned by senior industry architects on “Practices for becoming a better programmer”. This session will cover good habits one should follow in day-to-day programming. Stay tuned for the announcement of the upcoming session.

-Aslam

Social Activity Dashboard for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011

It is possible to create a dashboard that monitors activities on various social media sites by using the new dashboard capabilities in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011. Monitoring social media sites is important for small, medium and larger businesses. By doing this a business can keep track of the conversations that people in social communities are having about their brand or service, or even about their competitors.

A small business that sells a product may want to have a solution to track some of the things as follows -

1.What are the latest updates from the brands that I sell?
2.What does the social media activity around the various brands look like?
3.What are some of the biggest conversation topics related to my product these days?
4.What is the current set of conversations happening around my product?

Social Media Widgets for CRM Dashboards

Such information could be displayed on a CRM dashboard. Fortunately, the solution was not too hard to find. There are several web sites that provide social media widgets free of use. One just has to grab the HTML\Java Script code for these widgets and add them into a CRM Web resource. Having done that we are ready to create a "Social Activity Dashboard" - we just have to add these web resources on the dashboard.

Haroon

RFID Technology

RFID Technology:

Many of us have heard about RFID Technology. RFID Technology is being used slowly in the industry for ROI in the long run. Most of us know about RFID on high level that it is used for identification purpose. This is Right!!!. This identification of object using RFID can be planned to work in various Business scenarios such as Asset Tracking, Vehicle parking, Document Search etc

 If we know the principle of RFID (How it works?) then we can think of RFID usage in any business area.

Below is high level Principle of RFID Technology:

  

If you think for a while, operation of RFID is very SIMPLE

CONCLUSION: Tags are placed / fixed on object. When object with Tag comes into vicinity of RFID Reader, antenna reads tag Id and sends it to Reader, in turn Reader sends it to computer where our Business logic processes this event as per our requirement. SO SIMPLE!!! Isn’t it.

So we can think of using RFID application in any area around us. Such as Asset Tracking, Automatic door access control, Animal Tracking, In Retail Shop etc

So, you can think of innovative Ideas using RFID application and share with us. May be some of reward is waiting for you :-)

Cheers!!!

-Shahnawaz

Octaware Wins Red Herring's Asia.s Top 100 Tech Award - Press Release.

Hello Friends,

Its back to me... Najeeb!. So hopefully the week gone by has been fine and you all have been enjoying a rocking weekend.

Rather than any brand management gyan, I would like to share with you my happiness... Happiness on my organisation Octaware Technologies having won the laurels of being acknowledged as Asia's upcoming Tech Start-up, an honour previously shared by the likes of Google, Skype, FaceBook, etc. and yes we have beaten competiton from many countries including India, China, Australia, Japan, Singapore, Hong kong, Korea, Vietnam etc. So frineds, that sure us one big achievement.

Heres a good look at the Press Release doing the rounds of various PR Sites and newswires... :)

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Octaware Technologies Selected Asias Top 100 Tech Start-up Of 2010 – By Red Herring



Red Herring announced its Asia Top 100 Awards for 2010. Octaware Technologies, a Mumbai based software development, enterprise solutions and consulting firm wins laurels at the acclaimed Red Herring Asia 2010 Awards. This award acknowledges Octaware Technologies’ presence in the exclusive league of Asia’s top 100 Tech Start-up companies considered as drivers of growth and Future Technology.


Mumbai, India – 21st November,2010 : At a power-packed function in Shanghai on 16th November,2010, Red Herring announced its Top 100 Asia Award in recognition of the leading private companies from Asia, celebrating these start-ups’ innovations and technologies across their respective industries.


Red Herring’s Top 100 Asia list has become a mark of distinction for identifying promising new companies and entrepreneurs. Former winners such as Google, eBay, Skype, Facebook, and YouTube were discovered early on by Red Herring, who identified the potential of these companies as future Technology leaders changing the way we work and grow.


Hundreds of Technology companies across Asia including India, China, Australia, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, and Vietnam had submitted their applications for the prestigious award this year. A stringent review process, saw the short-listing of Finalists and after a further rigorous evaluation Octaware Technologies was announced as a winner.


Red Herring’s editorial staff evaluated the companies on both quantitative and qualitative criteria, such as financial performance, technology innovation, management quality, strategy, and market penetration. This assessment of potential is complemented by a review of the track record and standing of start-ups relative to their sector peers, allowing Red Herring to see past the “buzz” and make the list a valuable instrument of discovery and advocacy for the most promising new business models in Asia.


“Choosing the companies with the strongest potential was by no means a small feat,” said Alex Vieux, CEO of Red Herring. “After rigorous contemplation and discussion, we narrowed our list down from hundreds of candidates from across Asia to the Top 100 Winners. We believe Octaware Technologies embodies the vision, drive and innovation that define a successful entrepreneurial venture. Octaware should be proud of its accomplishment, as the competition was very strong.


Commenting on this achievement at Red Herring Awards in Shanghai, Mr.Aslam Khan, President, Octaware Technologies said “It was indeed a very strong competition with companies having some of the most refined ideas and innovation being a part of the Finalists and it was indeed inspiring to see them present their ideas. Needless to say having been part of such an august gathering is an accomplishment in itself. After being considered over some of the great achievers and having won the award is surely a great honour.”


Reflecting on the company values Mr.Khan added “It is an appreciation of the vision that Octaware stands for which is much higher than creating material wealth. It is more about adding value with growth opportunities, not just for itself but for the entire society. We are thankful to all our valued customers for their continued faith and to Red Herring for having acknowledged our services. This is recognition of the efforts expended by the entire Octaware family and I accept this award with all humbleness on their behalf.”


This award has provided a great boost to the confidence of all Octawarians and all are highly elated.


Mr.Sajid Hameed, Executive Vice President (R&D), Octaware Technologies said, “It is a hallmark of our continued endurance, consistent performance and excellence. This great news has been welcome by our well-wishers not just in India but even our customers abroad have appreciated this and have approvingly said that we deserved it. Having won this award is not an end but it is the beginning of our next endeavour and a motivation to continuously perform better and deliver. We have to live up to the expectations and exceed them.”


Mr.Khan added, “Participating in this competition has brought us face-to-face with some of the excellent ideators, innovators and entrepreneurs in the industry and it is such sense of innovation and entrepreneurship that we would like to see being imbibed with every individual of our society.


About Octaware Technologies :

Octaware Technologies is a software development, enterprise solutions and consulting firm known for excellent project management, exceeding expectations of customers and delivering high quality solutions. With offices in Mumbai, Seattle, Doha, Jeddah and development centres in Mumbai and Pune, Octaware is dedicated to help clients improve their business productivity by building and implementing high-quality, comprehensive and cost-effective solutions to meet the client’s business requirements.


Web Link : http://www.octaware.com

# # #


Syed Najeeb
Head – Corporate Communications
Octaware Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
74/p Khan Estate, Kherani Road,
Sakinaka, Andheri East.
Mumbai - 400059

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Leap from Beginner to Intermediate Developer - PART II

TIP # 2: Finding Information Technique


Most of the time re-usable components and sample code are available on internet for the module which you are planning to develop. Being a good developer is not just your skill, but your skill at finding information. An expert programmer is the person who is expert at using a variety of reference tools and documentation to find out how to achieve their goals. One has to be good at looking at a problem, figuring out approximately what is wrong, and being able to quickly find the solution. The real talent is knowing how to rapidly research and turn your findings into usable information.

Modern languages and development frameworks are too large for most people to remember much of them. As a result, your ability to get work done is often dependent upon your ability to perform research. Unfortunately, knowing how to find accurate, high-quality information is more than just typing a few words into your favorite search engine. The research (research of R&D) will be very effective and result oriented against Re-Search (repetitive search) if performed with right approach. You need to understand techniques, tactics and strategies involved in the research.

The techniques you need to learn are the advanced search systems of your favorite search engine. How many of us really use “Advanced search” option of our favorite search engine during our research? Have we ever spent time in reading and understanding “Advanced Search Tips” of search engine? You need to learn things such as the search operators, how to filter results (negative keywords, domain restrictions etc.), what role word order plays, and more.

You should learn tactics such as knowing how to approach any particular search and knowing what you should actually look for. Errors are easy — just look for the error code — but keyword selection on many searches is much more difficult. If you are searching on error messages, instead of just copying the entire error string, you might want to add keywords of the error source, language, context of the error message etc to help search engine return the best result.

Regarding strategies, you need to learn things such as what search engines to use. General purpose search engines are not always the right answer. Which sites to visit before going to a general purpose search engine, and even which message boards to look for existing post regarding your problem.

-Aslam

Octaware Wins the RED HERRING TOP 100 ASIA AWARD!!!

A great gift on the Happy occassion of Eid...

Octaware Technologies is on of the winners of RED HERRING'S TOP 100 ASIA AWARD, a prestigious list honouring the year’s most promising private technology ventures from the Asia business region.

The awards were declared today at a glittering function in Shanghai, China.

Thanking all our well-wishers & Congratulations to one and all from the Octaware Family!!!

More on this soon.

Importance of Brand Image for Start-ups

What do you mean by branding?
According to Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary : branding (noun), means “the act of giving a company a particular design or symbol in order to advertise its products and services.”

The dictionary definition of branding is simple but it is amazing how few business leaders understand its importance. There have been directors from large, international businesses who do not see any reason for investing in fresh design, in PR, in web innovation or in core messages.

How a business, product or individual is branded plays a big role in whether they succeed or fail. A brand is not just a logo, it is all your ethics and persona. This includes your style of design, your execution of that design, your attitude, your logo, your marketing, your internal policies and even your business process can all influence your brand image. If image is everything then this image needs to be right.

If it is a start up company, it is common to be branded as such. The benefit of this is that one is young and enthusiastic – the downside is far worse. People are less likely to invest in something that does not carry much experience or credibility. So if one wants to look like an industry leader, how to go about that?

Well one thought is that it all starts, with your target audience. If you can get inside their heads you can appeal to them. If you do not you may find that you offend them, upset them, or put them off. You may have a few target audiences but try and consider your key audience.

More to follow... How to communicate using your brand!!!
 
Posted By - Najeeb