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general

Always Flash

April 6, 2013 20:50:35.833

I've come to the conclusion that Flash's true purpose is to consume CPU cycles. The display of video is just an obscure bug, and I'm sure that Adobe will eventually figure out a fix....

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posted by James Robertson

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general

A Long Time Ago...

April 6, 2013 19:55:54.002

My daughter is in college now - so this gives you an idea as to how long ago this photo was taken:

posted by James Robertson

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st4u

ST 4U 366: Errors and Exceptions in VA Smalltalk

April 5, 2013 11:08:53.575

Today's Smalltalk 4 You looks at the difference between exception handling and error handling in VA Smalltalk. If you have trouble viewing it here in the browser, you can also navigate directly to YouTube. To watch now, click on the image below:

error handling.

If you have trouble viewing that directly, you can click here to download the video directly. If you need the video in a Windows Media format, then download that here.

You can also watch it on YouTube:


In most Smalltalk code, you look for exceptions when there's a chance that your code will fail - typically, when dealing with something like file handling. In VA Smalltalk, there are two patterns in use - exceptions, and errors. For some of the system libraries (networking code, for example), you mostly won't see exceptions on failure; you'll get an error object back instead. You need to know what to look for in order to deal with the situation properly. The common Smalltalk pattern might look like this:


"Catch exception"
input := self getValueFromUser.
[10/input]
  on: ZeroDivide
  do: [:ex | ex return: 1].


Here we have code that might get a divide by zero error, and we handle that when it happens. If you use some of the VA libraries, here's the alternative error pattern:


"look for error"
client := (SstHttpClient forTransportScheme: 'http') startUp.
response := client get: 'http://www.5678jnbf.com'.
response isSstError
  ifTrue: [Transcript show: 'Error'; cr].
client shutDown.

Here, we don't get an exception when trying to get a nonsense url (in practice, you would be getting a proper url, but looking out for server errors, socket errors, etc). Here we need to check the response object - is it an actual response, or an error object? This is more akin to the pattern you see in other languages, where you need to check the return value for error codes.

The important thing to keep in mind is that both exist in VA, and you simply need to know which one to look for with the library you are using

Need more help? There's a screencast for other topics like this which you may want to watch. Questions? Try the "Chat with James" Google gadget over in the sidebar.

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posted by James Robertson

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stic13

Speaker List for STIC 2013 is Up

April 4, 2013 20:16:19.409

The schedule should be available soon - for now, check out the list of confirmed speakers for STIC 2013. And then go register :)

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posted by James Robertson

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general

They're Back.....

April 4, 2013 11:45:11.504

Oh boy, the 17 year Cicada cycle is arriving again this May. I have to say, I haven't missed them :)

In places where they’re going to be present, it’s going to be spectacular. There could be as many as one billion cicadas emerging per square mile,” Michael Raupp, a professor of Entomology at the University of Maryland, told 1010 WINS

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posted by James Robertson

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js4u

JS 4U 259: Geometric Lines on Maps

April 4, 2013 10:23:26.930

Javascript 4 U

Today's Javascript 4 You looks at the using the geometry library for drawing in google maps. If you have trouble viewing it here in the browser, you can also navigate directly to YouTube.

Join the Facebook Group to discuss the tutorials. You can view the archives here.

To watch now, click on the image below:

geometry

If you have trouble viewing that directly, you can click here to download the video directly. If you need the video in a Windows Media format, then download that here.

You can also watch it on YouTube:

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[js4u259-iPhone.m4v ( Size: 1510361 )]

posted by James Robertson

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st4u

ST 4U 365: DateAndTime in Pharo

April 3, 2013 10:26:57.078

Today's Smalltalk 4 You looks at the DateAndTime class in Pharo. If you have trouble viewing it here in the browser, you can also navigate directly to YouTube. To watch now, click on the image below:

DateAndTime

If you have trouble viewing that directly, you can click here to download the video directly. If you need the video in a Windows Media format, then download that here.

You can also watch it on YouTube:

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[st4u365-iPhone.m4v ( Size: 746713 )]

posted by James Robertson

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js4u

JS 4U 258: Drawing Overlays

April 2, 2013 15:11:55.933

Javascript 4 U

Today's Javascript 4 You looks at drawing overlays for maps. If you have trouble viewing it here in the browser, you can also navigate directly to YouTube.

Join the Facebook Group to discuss the tutorials. You can view the archives here.

To watch now, click on the image below:

drawing overlay

If you have trouble viewing that directly, you can click here to download the video directly. If you need the video in a Windows Media format, then download that here.

You can also watch it on YouTube:

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[js4u258-iPhone.m4v ( Size: 1302710 )]

posted by James Robertson

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st4u

ST 4U 364: Getting the Pharo Command Line

April 1, 2013 13:46:10.521

Today's Smalltalk 4 You looks at accessing the command line from Pharo - i.e., figuring out what it looked like. If you have trouble viewing it here in the browser, you can also navigate directly to YouTube. To watch now, click on the image below:

command line

If you have trouble viewing that directly, you can click here to download the video directly. If you need the video in a Windows Media format, then download that here.

You can also watch it on YouTube:

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[st4u364-iPhone.m4v ( Size: 820873 )]

posted by James Robertson

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smalltalk

Follow PharoConf Events From Afar

April 1, 2013 10:21:51.203

Just keep track of the hash tags #pharoconf and #mooseday

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posted by James Robertson

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smalltalk

No Podcast This Weekend

March 31, 2013 1:06:24.908

Sorry gang - tomorrow is my wedding anniversary, so no podcast coming. We'll be back next weekend though!

posted by James Robertson

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