Web Application Testing With Selenium - Wednesday 17th March 2010 in Dundee

26 January, 2010 by Andy Gibson Leave a Comment

Testing is a fundamental part of the development process regardless of how you approach it however GUI’s have always been trickier to test and web based UI’s are some of the hardest. JavaScript, AJAX and browser compatibility are all things that make web UI functionality quite difficult and time consuming to test properly.

Enter Selenium, a web application testing framework which makes the creation and automation of complex web user interface tests a joy. Selenium is comprised of 4 components, Selneium Core, Selenium IDE, Selenium RC and Selenium Grid.

  • Selenium Core is the heart of the framework
  • Selenium IDE provides an easy to use interface for creating and running tests from within Mozilla Firefox
  • Selenium RC allows integration of Selenium into a variety of popular langauges such as .NET, Java and Ruby

This session will introduce you to Selenium and explain the core features of the framework before showing you, through live ASP.NET demonstrations, how it can be harnessed in your own web development.

The Speaker

Andy Gibson is an Information Systems Developer for an international computer games studio with a background in web application development including ASP.NET MVC, PHP and jQuery. He is always on the lookout for new technologies to playwith and loves to learn what he can about things especially in the webdevelopment arena.

Keen to give back to the community, Andy has spoken at a number ofcommunity events including DeveloperDeveloperDeveloper! Scotland and is currently an active committee member for Scottish Developers.

The Venue

We are meeting in the Queen Mother Building at Dundee University. After the meeting we normally retire to the the bar at Laing’s

The Agenda

18:45 Doors Open
19:00 Welcome
19:10 The Talk (Part 1)
19:55 Break
20:05 The Talk (Part 2)
20:45 Feedback & Prizes
21:00 Retire to the Pub

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Contractual Obligations: Getting up and running with Code Contracts - Wednesday 17th 2010 February in Dundee

26 January, 2010 by Andy Gibson Leave a Comment

Code Contracts is Microsoft’s implementatoin of Programming by Contract for .NET (also known as Contract Programming, or Contract-First development).  Code Contracts are a way of adding executable specification documentation to your code; they can also work hand-in-hand with your unit tests.  All-in-all, the aim of Code Contracts is to improve the quality and reliability of your software.

With Code Contracts you can: specify a method’s pre-requisites (pre-conditions) and what it guarantees to do for it’s caller (post-conditions); you can also specify what conditions must always be in-place throughout the the lifetime of an object (object-invariants).  Code Contract conditions can be tested at runtime and, if you’re using Team System, they can also be analysed and tested statically after your application has compiled. Using the features of code contracts in conjunction with your unit tests can help you find potential problems in your code sooner.

Code Contracts will be part of .NET 4.0 and are also available for .NET 3.5; they’re language agnostic and integrate into Visual Studio (08 & 10).

The aim of this session is to show you how to write code contracts: method pre and post condtions along with object-invariants and we’ll look at how Code Contracts work.  In addition, we’ll also be looking at using Code Contracts with TDD and how to use Contracts with Interfaces.

The Speaker

Barry Carr has been developing software since 1987.  Barry has written software for many business sectors, including: Chemical; Pharmaceutical; Oil and Gas; Banking; Accounting; Legal Accounting; Public Sector and now Mining and Geology. Barry has also developed and sold his own software components to other developers. Always keen to keep his skills current, Barry devotes a lot of his personal time to technical development as well as keeping abreast of the current trends in the world of software development. Barry is also active in the software development community running the Dundee branch of Scottish Developers.

When he isn’t coding, Barry likes to spend his time with photography, reading and unashamedly listening to progressive rock (especially while coding).

The Venue

We are meeting in the Queen Mother Building at Dundee University. After the meeting we normally retire to the the bar at Laing’s

The Agenda

18:45 Doors Open
19:00 Welcome
19:10 The Talk (Part 1)
19:55 Break
20:05 The Talk (Part 2)
20:45 Feedback & Prizes
21:00 Retire to the Pub

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Developer Day Scotland: Session Voting Now Open

18 January, 2010 by Colin Angus Mackay Leave a Comment

If you are planning on attending Developer Day Scotland 2010 the session voting is now open. We have many excellent session proposals to choose from across a wide range of topics. If you are planning on going we then this is your chance to influence the agenda.

Developer Day Scotland will be held on Saturday 8th May 2010 in at Glasgow Caledonian University.

Developer Developer Developer: UK Community Events

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Can you help in Glasgow?

17 January, 2010 by Colin Angus Mackay Leave a Comment

Scottish Developers are looking for help in Glasgow to help organise and run events. Can you help?

We are looking for someone to assist our current Chairman and Glasgow Coordinator, Colin Mackay. This would be a committee position and would require the person to help out in Glasgow by assisting in the arranging of speakers, organising of events, setting up of the room on the day, processing feedback and attending committee meetings.

If you are interested, please send an email to [email protected]

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Job: Senior software developer with project management skills (Glasgow)

8 January, 2010 by Colin Angus Mackay Leave a Comment

We have a new job vacancy in from Credosoft in Glasgow:

Credosoft are a successful Glasgow based company providing inspection management software to the international oil and gas sector.

We require a senior software developer with project management skills.

Profile of Candidate

  • Strong software skills including c# and oracle
  • Maturity and confidence to manage large scale international projects
  • At least of 5 years experience in a comparable role
  • Engineering or technical background preferred
  • Technical University Degree or equivalent

Profile of Role

  • Project management
  • Software analysis and development
  • Technical lead for team of developers
  • Face to face communication with international group of corporate clients
  • Presentation and training
  • Reporting directly to senior Credosoft management
  • Regular visits to overseas client sites
  • 50k+ salary plus annual review

Interviews will be multistage including a practical evaluation of technical abilities.

Initial contract will be for an evaluation period of 12 months.

This is an excellent opportunity for career development in a stimulating and challenging international industry.

For more details contact Margaret at  [email protected]  ref CMM002.

Direct applications only. No agencies.

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C# .NET Senior Developer

6 January, 2010 by Colin Angus Mackay Leave a Comment

This job just in from MoneyDashboard.com

We are looking for a pro-active experienced senior C# .NET developer, programmer, engineer and guru to help take our B2C application to masses and beyond. Our application uses the latest in development methodologies, technologies and infrastructure and is a leading  the way in Silverlight based Rich Internet Applications. You will work with the rest of the team on rapidly developing our front end application as well as its complex framework, middleware and supporting systems while utilising input from product management and design. This is a lead role involving extensive collaboration with the rest of the business and with an opportunity to contribute to all stages in the development process.

This is a focused development role with an opportunity to get involved in all a broad range of technologies including the core Silverlight GUI as well as mobile, desktop and offline components.

You will be involved in…

  • Lead developer for GUI, application, business and data systems.
  • XAML and Silverlight 3+ integration with .Net and SDS for RIA solutions.
  • C# and .Net 3.5+ using the latest WPF and WCF technology to build business and data solutions.
  • Develops stored procedures, SQL and SSIS/SSRS as needed.
  • Works closely with business and technical teams to understand, document, design and code processes.
  • Works closely with technical and business teams to understand, document and design and code integration.
  • Will lead the translation of concepts, requirements and source mapping documents into solutions.
  • Design, develop, test, optimize and deploy .Net applications and SQL data components and related functions.
  • Develop online, mobile, desktop and offline applications, controls and gadgets in support of the core application.

You should have…

  • Candidate must have a deep understanding of application design, development, layout and presentation.
  • 5+ years experience of .Net development, .NET web services and .Net principles and architectures including the concepts, designs and usage of software components, deployments and packages.
  • Experience developing C# applications
  • Extensive experience and sound understanding of in ASP.NET, XML (with some XAML experience highly desirable), Linq, Windows Forms, WCF, Silverlight and Windows Services and SQL/Stored procedures
  • General experience with Javascript, CSS, xHTML and DOM.
  • Must be able to Analyze requirements, design and specification documents, and provide instructions to other team members.
  • Responsible for version and release management in development, testing, staging and production environments.
  • Manage change control and configuration management for deliverables.
  • Must demonstrate strong verbal and written communication skills and be able to interface with all levels of business and IT.
  • Work well in a team-oriented environment managing multiple priorities, following a project plan and meeting project delivery dates.
  • Highly organized individual with excellent decision making, analytical, problem solving and presentation skills.
  • Excellent communication skills. Must be able to talk and understand clear English.
  • BS degree in Computer Science or equivalent professional experience

Money Dashboard is an easy to use, secure and free online personal finance service that helps people manage their money more effectively.

We will soon be launching our service to the general public and are looking for a few key individuals to join our ambitious team who believes in excellence and hard work. What we offer is involvement in a cutting edge proposition, a great working environment, challenges and just rewards. If you think up for the challenge why don’t you email us at [email protected].

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North East Bytes

5 January, 2010 by Colin Angus Mackay Leave a Comment

If you live in the south east of Scotland and don’t mind crossing the border occasionally there is a new User Groups starting in Newcastle. Here’s the information from Andrew Westgarth (he’s spoken at Scottish Developers in the past):

I’m pleased to announce a new User Group in the North East of England, based around Microsoft Technologies, North East Bytes (NEBytes) - http://www.nebytes.net .  We have decided to start this group in order to help Developers and IT Pros in the community with the constant battle to learn, stay current and broaden their knowledge.

We run monthly meetings every third Wednesday of the month (except on the second Wednesday in December - to allow time for Christmas parties and shopping!) at Newcastle University.  Each meeting consists of two one hour presentations (one Developer topic and one IT Pro topic) and we have refreshments, food, giveaways and prizes.

Attendance at our meetings is completely FREE!! The venue is provided kindly by the University, our Speakers kindly provide their time for free, and we as organisers provide our time for free to organise the events.  We will provide refreshments and we also provide hot food, all we ask is if you would like to partake in the the hot food, please make a small donation towards the cost via the open contribution box at each meeting.

Our Launch event is to be on Wednesday 20th January 2010, we are delighted to have Mike Taulty visiting to cover Silverlight and James O’Neill to cover Hyper-V.  We are really pleased to announce that we are also partnering with SUGUK North East for their first event of 2010 and will be welcoming Steve Smith to cover the Highlights and Features of Sharepoint 2010.  So  we have an action packed evening lineed up, Silverlight, Hyper-V AND Sharepoint 2010!!!! We are really looking forward to this great event and hope to see lots there to help us celebrate our launch!

For more information and full event details see - http://www.nebytes.net
I’m really excited about this new direction and would like to welcome anyone who would like to speak at the usergroup.

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e-Commerce Implementation

5 January, 2010 by Colin Angus Mackay Leave a Comment

This just in from the BCS:

A BCS Professional Awareness Course in collaboration with Scotland IS.

Four consecutive Tuesday evenings starting 12th January 2010, 6.30 - 8.30 pm.

Cost: £100 for BCS members and Scotland IS Members, £126 for others (both excluding VAT).

Course Overview

Do you want to know how to set up e-Commerce sites?

E-business varies enormously, but it is possible to learn quite quickly how to set up a website that sells physical or digital products. This course, over four evenings, is aimed at computing professionals with some knowledge of HTML, and leads to you being able to:

  • Identify the key elements of an e-commerce project, some typical business models to support,
  • Identify four technical options for building e-commerce solutions
  • Capture essential information needed for an e-commerce project
  • Implement an e-commerce prototype and estimate timescales and costs to implement a full solution
  • Evaluate e-commerce prototypes
  • Recognise typical pitfalls and trade offs in e-commerce development

Presenter David Oxley leads you through technical challenges such as setting up online shopping carts, secure hosting of digital content, digital rights management (DRM), credit-card transactions etc, as well as covering the broader business and customer issues that must be addressed in successful e-commerce.

The BCS Edinburgh Branch has been running Professional Awareness Courses over the years to give local professionals an introduction to new subjects. The course is open to members and non-members. BCS and Members receive a discount on the fees, as do members of ScotlandIS.

For more details and on-line booking go to: http://www.edinburgh.bcs.org/courses/ecommerce.htm

The course is one of a series of Professional Current Awareness Courses aimed at providing greater access to developing subjects for IT professionals.

Filed under Third party events, Training Course Tagged with ,

2010 New Year Newsletter

5 January, 2010 by Colin Angus Mackay Leave a Comment

Welcome

Happy New Year - I hope 2010 brings you all you could wish for.

As it is the new year, lots of people will be looking for new beginnings, something new and exciting to do and there are some jobs going that may be of interest. In Edinburgh there is a Senior Web Developer and a Java/C# developer. In Glasgow there is a VP Engineering, two C#/ASP.NET developer positions, and a developer role with JPMorgan.

This year we are pleased to be hosting our third annual conference. As usual it will be in May at Glasgow Caledonian University. Currently the call for speakers is open (and will be until the 15th January) at which point you will then get to vote on the sessions that you want to see from those submitted. The conference has its own twitter account if you want to follow it for up-to-date information: @dddscot.

If you are interested in sponsorship opportunities for the conference then please get in touch at [email protected]

After the success of the Geek Dinners in December we are aiming to hold them more frequently. The next one will be in Glasgow in February. We are organising another in Edinburgh for March which we’ll announce shortly.

If you are on twitter you can follow us @scottishdevs.

If you run a user group, or just know of an event that would be of interest to software developers we’re always keen to hear about it. Let us know by sending an email to [email protected]

Regards,
Colin Mackay, Chairman, Scottish Developers

Upcoming Events

7-January-2010 @ 19:30 in Edinburgh
Testing with PEX and QuickCheck
Registration Required

4-February-2010 @ 19:00 in Glasgow
What ASP.NET (MVC) developers can learn from Rails
Registration Required - Cost FREE

5-February-2010 @ 19:00 in Glasgow
Glasgow Geek Dinner
Registration Required - Cost: Price of meal

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