Nedko

iText is a powerful library that allows user to create and manipulate PDF files. Currently there are Java and .NET version of the library which proves to be one of the most popular tools for PDFs. Often used as part of web applications for generation of output for forms and document generation automation iText is free for use under the AGPL open source license. Keep in mind that this is not an end user utility but rather a developer tool for integration in applications and APIs.

In this example I will present the reader with a simple way of using iText for form fill automation.

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Development, HOW TOs by admin

It is hard to overstate the importance of testing before going live with a website or a web application. The rule of thumb is that whatever can go wrong will at exactly the most crucial moment. The problem is that your staging environment is inadequate and fails to replicate real scenarios. That’s where JMeter comes useful. The open source load testing tool is written Java and allows testing functional behavior and performance under variable loads.

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Development, HOW TOs by admin

During my professional career I have become accustomed to the development tools that make the engineer’s job much easier. On the other hand I’ve come to the realization that little time and attention is being spent on optimization and proper use of those tools. While there is plenty of information out there on framework comparisons, guides, APIs, and the like very few products seem to adopt the best practices and the tier two functionality slips through the cracks of the Q&A process. This is usually the case with logging.

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Development, General by admin

Recently while working on a java enterprise application I came upon a runtime error which later inspired this very post. What will follow will also give you a taste of what proper Maven dependency management should look like. The problem in question was a library call which caused the following to be spit in my [...]

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Development by Nedko

Research has shown that 70% of the pictures we take feature people. Face detection in software in digital processors can greatly enhance the quality of images and help describe the content. Why not? While humans can easily identify objects in a photograph it takes a lot more to teach a machine how to do that [...]

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Development, General by Nedko

Along with the catchy name iGoogle has succeeded to put ‘personalized’ in search. While the idea is nothing new and has been present for long in competitor sites (My Yahoo! and Microsoft Life are a two examples which need no introduction) Google has been able to put a different spin on the concept.

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Development, Uncategorized by Nedko

Let’s see how we can use some simple tools and create a functional example of how multipart MIME actually works in practice. With both of my hands in the carburetor (a car repair term for getting down to business and having things done fast) I sit down and get busy with creating the necessary [...]

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Development, HOW TOs by Nedko

Background
I cannot quite recall the first time I sent an email except that for all I know it was a long time ago and that it’s only intent was to notify its recipient that I had actually embraced the cyberspace. It was a time when having an email address was a privilege, not a [...]

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Development, General by Nedko

In the era of disposable mobile phones, the battery-powered five razor blades and on demand reality TV it seems we’ve pushed the boundaries of technology to the next level. However often with such change we don’t take into consideration the social implications that these new concepts can have on our life. Likewise the explosion of [...]

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Development by Nedko