As it turns out, Chicago is not such a bad place for developers to hang out...

Shortly after the top ten indie Mac Developers hold a mini-conference for Mac Developers dubbed Evening at Adler here in Chicago, the Windy City will host yet another event with near celebrity status, Snakes and Rubies!.

This time from the Web Publishing World (Web 2.0), two celebrity developers Adrian Holovaty and David Heinemeier Hansson creators of Django framework and Ruby on Rails framework, respectively, will hold a public conference at Depaul.

Many other almost famous Ruby and Python developers already said they will not miss it for the world. Hey, even some Perl Mongers will show up. This may be the event of the year for next generation Web 2.0 indie masterminds to rub elbows. I wonder if anybody from out of town can make it?

Although, we do not have custom tee-shirts, trading cards, or nicknames like drunkenbatman, this still is an event no Chicago hacker should miss.

This month's Chipy meeting was a huge success: Good location, great speakers, and amazing turnout.

I can't believe how far we have come from sharing nachos at Goose Island a year and a half ago.

This months topic "Remote, Generic and Random", just like us!

import dispatch

@dispatch.on('foo')
def doIt(foo, other, args):
    "Base generic function of 'doIt()'"

@doIt.when(int)
def doIt(foo, other, args):
    print "foo is an int |", other, args

@doIt.when(str)
def doIt(foo, other, args):
    print "foo is a str |", other, args

doIt( 1, 'this','that')  # -> foo is an int | this that
doIt('x','this','that')  # -> foo is a str | this that

With index scans to use an intermediate in-memory bitmap and improved buffer cache and performance for partitioned tables, PostgreSQL 8.1 will be sure to make us feel good we have no idea what these things actually do! On the other hand, the addition of features: user roles on shared objects, the separation of roles from user/group distinctions, share level row locking, auto-indexes on MAX() and MIN(),two part commits, and the inclusion of the all to familiar contributed module for pg_autovacuum into the main sources, are all features we will love and understand.

Again with this upgrade a pg_dump and restore is required for the upgrade.

When I first added a new file to my XCode 2.1 project I ended up with something like this:

/*
 *  untitled.cpp
 *  FooProject
 *
 *  Created by Brian H Ray on 11/5/05.
 *  Copyright __MyCompanyName__. All rights reserved.
 *
 */

#include "untitled.h"

The MyCompanyName macro was easily accessible:

$ defaults read com.apple.XCode PBXCustomTemplateMacroDefinitions
{ORGANIZATIONNAME = "__MyCompanyName__"; }

Changing this value with write does the trick. See 'man defaults'. However, I still do not like this header on every file. I want to customize these templates so they are more friendly to doxygen, subversion, and some common class definitions I use with most new files. Here I will use C++ as the example file, although these customization tip works just as well with Java, Cocoa, or any other languages already defined or you define (I added Python). The files I need to customize are located under "/Library/Application Support/Apple/Developer Tools/File Templates". The C++ header looks like:

/*
 *  «FILENAME»
 *  «PROJECTNAME»
 *
 *  Created by «FULLUSERNAME» on «DATE».
 *  Copyright «YEAR» «ORGANIZATIONNAME». All rights reserved.
 *
 */

#include <Carbon/Carbon.h>

So here is the complete list (I think) of the macro available for expansion. WARNING: when opening these templates open the as Unicode, otherwise you will see junk for the start and stop character.

My result template looks like this:

/*!  
   \file «FILENAME» 

   $Id$
   $URL$
   
   \version   $Rev$
   \author    «FULLUSERNAME»
   \date      «DATE»
   \namespace «PROJECTNAMEASIDENTIFIER»
*/
#ifndef «PROJECTNAMEASIDENTIFIER»«FILEBASENAMEASIDENTIFIER»
#define «PROJECTNAMEASIDENTIFIER»«FILEBASENAMEASIDENTIFIER»


namespace «PROJECTNAMEASIDENTIFIER»
{

/*! \class «FILEBASENAME».h "$URL$"
 *  \brief «FILEBASENAME» class from «PROJECTNAME»
 *
 *  
 */
class «FILEBASENAMEASIDENTIFIER»
{


  public:

    //! «FILEBASENAMEASIDENTIFIER» constructor.
    /*!
      
    */
    «FILEBASENAMEASIDENTIFIER»();

    //! «FILEBASENAMEASIDENTIFIER» destructor.
    /*!
      
    */
   ~«FILEBASENAMEASIDENTIFIER»();

};

}  // end namespace «PROJECTNAMEASIDENTIFIER»

#endif // «PROJECTNAMEASIDENTIFIER»«FILEBASENAMEASIDENTIFIER»

When creating a new file from XCode the result looks like:

/*!  
   \file Test.h 

   $Id$
   $URL$
   
   \version   $Rev$
   \author    Brian H Ray
   \date      11/5/05
   \namespace Foo___Test_Project
*/
#ifndef Foo___Test_ProjectTest
#define Foo___Test_ProjectTest

namespace Foo___Test_Project
{

/*! \class Test.h "$URL$"
 *  \brief Test class from Foo & Test Project
 *
 *  
 */
class Test
{


  public:

    //! Test constructor.
    /*!
      
    */
    Test();

    //! Test destructor.
    /*!
      
    */
   ~Test();

};

}  // end namespace Foo___Test_Project

#endif // Foo___Test_ProjectTest

For further expansion of the Subversion Keywords, I added the meta data for these in subversion:

$ svn proplist --verbose test.h
$ svn propset svn:keywords "Id Rev URL" test.h 

The file of course needs to be added/committed to subversion before these are expanded. XCode supports subversion, btw so I do not need to leave the IDE.

Producing Open Source Software By Karl Fogel is the most important book in the Open Source Revolution.

On being a successful open source developer, not only does this book cover the technical aspects of Open Source Development but it also covers the most challenging topics like: working with and managing other developers, how to communicate, licensing, and concept of making money even a living writing open source. This view into the life and society of an Open Source Developer is dually qualified to be both lessons for the developer and for everyday life.

Generally, I hate one liners when taken out of context. Read the whole book. With that said, here are a couple good ones:

• "You Are What You Write"
• "At parties, people no longer give me a blank stare when I tell them I write free software."
• "One of the most common mistakes (of open source) is unrealistic expectations about the benefits of open source itself."
• "'It's free as in freedom? think free speech, not free beer.'"
• "Have a Clear Mission Statement"
• "sometimes silence is the best tactic"
• "Hire for the Long Term"
• "Don't Post Without a Purpose"
• "The price of success is heavy in the open source world"
• "Notice what people are interested in"
• "Treat Every User as a Potential Volunteer"
• "Software patents are the lightning rod issue of the moment in free software"

The book clearly identifies what it takes to create, maintain, and, at times, pass the torch on Open Source Projects. It cites a wide range a good sources ranging between the famous hacker, actual open source licenses, and mail-list archives. The actually Version Control Sections are as strong and clear, of course from one of the founders of Subversion, the next version control system. I have many good things to say about this book.

If I had to choose a flaw, I would only criticize there is little on Code Sprints, Parallel Programming or any Micro-Techniques. I believe this is due to the books focus on broader solutions and the entire production. This is not really a flaw, not a bug, yet another feature; so many computer books are unable to step back and show the big picture.

If I did want to comment on the book, there is a handy link to, not a contact from or email address, but to bugzilla. Figures =)

So, Karl should wear his suspenders proud, because this book is top shelve. Now, if we could get him and the Chicago CollaNet gang to stop back in to a ChiPy meeting. Book signing?

Tonight is the monthly meeting of Chicago's Cocoa User Group CAWUG Cocoa and WebObjects.

I emailed the list (the discussion thread) and asked there was any interesting in merging (actually starting) a chapter of Cocoa Heads Chapter. Luckily, there sounds be some interest. Also I was happy to see some members are already listed on PlanetMacDev.

Now all I need to do is to see if they could also cover Carbon, at times--seeing I am more familiar with C++ than Objective-C, personally. If you ask me I would like to see one large group dedicated to Macintosh Development in general: Java, Python, Perl, Cocoa, Carbon, Ruby...there is so much cross over. I would even like to cover people who like to use apple tools to make software for other platforms. Although, I certainly ok with Cocoa being the primary focus for now.

It is fun to see these things come together. So all of you Cocoa Heads, come to the meeting tonight and see what this group is all about. There may be some conversation at the bar after. I can not make it to the bar after, but I encourage all to attend. See their website for more info.