Winds of change

 I work on python (FLASK) and JavaScript now. Far cry from the usual ASP.NET web pages stuff that I used to break my head over.

Working in python which is primarily an interpreted language on the backend has definitely helped me to become a better programmer. I have now experience with both compiled and interpreted languages. 

LinkedIn skill assessment

I passed the LinkedIn C# assessment and now have (barely visible) badge on my profile. This is the report I saw after I gave the test:

And now on my profile, in the skills section there is a tick mark next to C# as shown below:

Of course for me there is a tick next to .NET as well since I gave and passed another assessment for that.

I like the idea of assessments but I don't like the fact that it is hardly visible on your profile. I am guessing most people would not even notice it.

HttpWebRequest, String.Join and formatting code

Weekly wrap:

1. When you work with Visual Studio 2010 you are grateful for posts such as this on Stack Overflow.

I needed to make post request using .NET framework 4.0. In the top rated answer, the methods C and D work with .NET framework 2.0+

I ended up using the Method C which used HttpWebRequest


2. Actually working with C# I had never used String.Join() before. In fact, I knew about python's .join() routine before C#. In the language of python, there is definitely a push by the programmers and by the creators to write as little code as possible (they call it pythonic). But even C# has a similar routine and I think it is pretty useful:



3. By the way I formatted the above code using gists on github. More info in this SO post

Job Crawlers

Did you know you can create job crawlers with python? I won't say it is easy but it is not rocket science either. I have uploaded a crawler in the github link below.

It crawls and creates a dictionary of jobs from Caesars Entertainment company
    You can view the jobs on their careers page: https://caesars.taleo.net/careersection/czr_ext_cs/jobsearch.ftl?lang=en&portal=8100120159

A json request is created with the appropriate body and headers. The json response is then parsed to create a dictionary of jobs

GitHub link: https://github.com/rsk2/job-crawlers/tree/master/Job%20Crawlers

Convert ASP.NET GridView to Excel the right way

This sample VB.NET code over comes following limitations of using the Interop dll:
1. RegisterForEventValidation can only be called during Render https://stackoverflow.com/questions/7228718/registerforeventvalidation-can-only-be-called-during-render
2. GridView must be placed inside a form tag with runat=“server” even after the GridView is within a form tag https://stackoverflow.com/questions/6343630/gridview-must-be-placed-inside-a-form-tag-with-runat-server-even-after-the-gri


Github link: https://github.com/rsk2/export-gridview-to-excel

Why is the web page taking a long time to load?

Is this a good question to ask during interviews? I do feel like it tests the problem-solving skills of candidates. Can he/she tell me all the possible causes? Can the break the issue down to its components? Can they identify the different items that can cause problems?

Further, if they do say there is something wrong with the server code ( which is normally their top answer) , I can dig deeper into their ideas on improving the efficiency of the code. 

Shared Programming

Programming doesn't need to be a lonely activity. I'd love for it to be taught, shared, discussed and debated on.