The Feasibility of Learning Ruby as Your First Programming Language

 

Choosing the right programming language for beginners is crucial as it sets the foundation for a successful journey in the world of coding. Ruby, a powerful and user-friendly language, has gained popularity for its simplicity and versatility. In this article, we'll explore the feasibility of learning Ruby as the first programming language and discuss the benefits it offers to aspiring developers.

Beginner-Friendly Syntax

Ruby boasts an elegant and human-readable syntax, making it an excellent choice for beginners. Its code is concise and easy to understand, allowing novices to quickly grasp fundamental programming concepts. The language is designed to prioritize developer happiness, reducing the barriers to entry for newcomers and promoting an enjoyable learning experience.

Abundance of Learning Resources

As one of the most widely used programming languages, Ruby has a wealth of learning resources available online. From comprehensive tutorials to interactive coding platforms, beginners can find ample support to kick-start their programming journey. Moreover, the Ruby community is known for its friendliness and willingness to help, making it an inclusive environment for learners.

Versatility and Popularity

Ruby's versatility is another reason why it is a feasible first programming language. It is used extensively for web development, with the popular Ruby on Rails framework providing a robust platform to build web applications. Additionally, Ruby is employed in automation scripts, data analysis, and game development, showcasing its wide-ranging capabilities.

Encourages Clean Code Practices

Ruby's philosophy emphasizes clean and readable code. As beginners learn Ruby, they naturally adopt best coding practices, fostering good habits from the start. This focus on readability not only helps newcomers understand code more easily but also promotes teamwork and maintainability in larger projects.

Rapid Prototyping and Development

For beginners aiming to see tangible results quickly, Ruby excels at rapid prototyping and development. Its dynamic nature allows for swift iteration, enabling developers to experiment and see their ideas come to life without being bogged down by overly complex syntax or rigid structures.

Community and Job Opportunities

Choosing a popular programming language like Ruby means becoming part of a large and thriving community. This opens doors to numerous job opportunities and networking possibilities, both locally and globally. Many startups and established companies value Ruby skills, making it a viable language for career growth.

Transferable Skills

Learning Ruby doesn't just confine beginners to one language; it equips them with transferable skills applicable to other languages and paradigms. The core programming concepts acquired through Ruby can be easily translated to other languages like Python, JavaScript, or Java, providing a solid foundation for future learning.

In conclusion, learning Ruby as the first programming language is indeed feasible and can be a wise choice for beginners. Its beginner-friendly syntax, abundant learning resources, versatility, and emphasis on clean code practices make it an excellent language to start your coding journey. Additionally, the supportive Ruby community and job opportunities further solidify its appeal. Aspiring developers who choose Ruby will not only gain proficiency in this dynamic language but also build the necessary skills to succeed in the ever-evolving world of programming.

Selenium doesn't work with Bootstrap 5: Cannot click on button

 

Bootstrap 5, a powerful CSS framework, brings new challenges. One issue developers face is Selenium test failures due to Bootstrap 5's smooth scrolling feature. In this article, we'll explore this problem and provide solutions.

 Recently, I encountered some unexpected test suite failures while using Bootstrap 5. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the test cases were randomly failing, particularly when interacting with the save button as it will not submit the form. An intriguing puzzle, isn't it?

To address the perplexing test failures, I embarked on an extensive debugging process and conducted thorough research. Eventually, I uncovered the root cause of the issue: a conflict between Bootstrap 5 and Selenium. Specifically, a particular CSS element was causing the problem.

 scroll-behavior: smooth;

This does not allow Selenium to automatically scroll down and click on the element that is at the bottom of the page, I mean an element that is outside window.

How to fix it?

I found 2 ways to fix this kind of flaky tests. I tested them and they actually works. 😊

1. Disable smooth scrolling from bootstrap.

 Note: if you are using rails it should be in: _bootstrap-custom.scss

 $enable-smooth-scroll: false;

2.  Override bootstrap scroll-behavior.

 html {
    scroll-behavior: auto !important;
}

2.1 if you're using rails, you can actually do this just for the test environment:

 html[data-environment="test"] {
    scroll-behavior: auto !important;
}

and in your haml file you should have something like this:

%html{"data-environment": "#{Rails.env}"}

List of Ubuntu releases with corresponding Linux kernel version

 

This is the list of Ubuntu versions with their corresponding Kernel version:

Version / code name	Kernel
22.04 Jammy Jellyfish	5.15
21.10 Impish Indri	5.13
21.04 Hirsute Hippo	5.11
20.10 Groovy Gorilla	5.8
20.04 Focal Fossa	5.4
19.10 Eoan Ermine	5.3
19.04 Disco Dingo	5
18.10 Cosmic Cuttlefish	4.18
18.04 Bionic Beaver	4.15
17.10 Artful Aardvark	4.13
17.04 Zesty Zapus	4.1
16.10 Yakkety Yak	4.8
16.04 Xenial Xerus	4.4
15.10 Wily Werewolf	4.2
15.04 Vivid Vervet	3.19
14.10 Utopic Unicorn	3.16
14.04 Trusty Tahr	3.13
13.10 Saucy Salamander	3.11
13.04 Raring Ringtail	3.8
12.10 Quantal Quetzal	3.5
12.04 Precise Pangolin	3.2+
11.10 Oneiric Ocelot	3.0
11.04 Natty Narwhal	2.6.38
10.10 Maverick Meerkat	2.6.35
10.04 Lucid Lynx	2.6.32
09.10 Karmic Koala	2.6.31
09.04 Jaunty Jackalope	2.6.28
08.10 Intrepid Ibex	2.6.27
08.04 Hardy Heron	2.6.24
07.10 Gutsy Gibbon	2.6.22
07.04 Feisty Fawn	2.6.20
06.10 Edgy Eft	2.6.17
06.06 Dapper Drake	2.6.15
05.10 Breezy Badger	2.6.12
05.04 Hoary Hedgehog	2.6.10
04.10 Warty Warthog	2.6.8

Mysql Error: Illegal mix of collations

 

Sometimes, when designing queries, we assume that the database and tables inherit the same general settings. Due to this assumption, we run into many different MYSQL errors.

In this post, I will give you some tips to resolve this specific MYSQL error.

Basically, what it means is that you're trying to compare 2 fields with an incompatible collation.

For example,  if you want to run this query:

 SELECT* FROM table_1 WHERE A in (SELECT B FROM table_2)

But keep in mind that column A has utf8_unicode_ci as default collation, and column B has latin1_general_ci as default collation. So, if you run that query, you will get this error: 

 Illegal mix of collations (utf8_unicode_ci,IMPLICIT) and (latin1_general_ci,IMPLICIT)

How can I make it work?

Well, it's very simple. You can use COLLATE to convert a field to  the desired collation.

Example: 

SELECT* FROM table_1 WHERE A in (SELECT B COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci FROM table_2)

Or

 

SELECT* FROM table_1 WHERE A COLLATE latin1_general_ci in (SELECT B FROM table_2)

Both queries will work fine now.

I hope you find it useful. Until the next post!!!

Configuring Capistrano to run migrations on multiple servers

 

A few months ago I found myself in a situation where I had to run the migrations on a second server. After some research, I learned that Capistrano only runs migrations on the first server in the :db group, so other servers with :db will be ignored.

I was very surprised!!!

I kept looking into this and finally found the option I was looking for:

This is an example of the config/deploy/production.rb

 server 'sample-web-server1', user: 'deploy', roles: %w{app web db}
 server 'sample-web-server2', user: 'deploy', roles: %w{app web}
 server 'sample-web-server3', user: 'deploy', roles: %w{app web db}

Now in your config/deploy.rb file add this option:

 set :migration_servers, -> { release_roles(fetch(:migration_role)) }

Now, you just have to deploy.

As a side note:

According to the capistrano changelogs, this option was introduced from version 1.1.7, so if you have capistrano 1.1.7 onwards, you can safely use it. 

You can also check the capistrano documentation here

Useful Mysql Queries

 

There are some situations where your application could crash and sometimes the problem is not really in the source code, but in the database. e.g: you are using wrong collation for a specific table or column or maybe you are using wrong data type etc.

These Mysql statements can help you debug or better understand your current database structure.

Let's begin:

1.  Show all columns for a specific table:

 SHOW COLUMNS FROM users;

output:

and also you can filter by field or type etc.

 SHOW COLUMNS FROM users WHERE field = 'email';

2. Show table details:

 SHOW TABLE STATUS;

output:

and of course you can filter by table name:

 SHOW TABLE STATUS where name = 'users';

Output:

3. Show Mysql variables:

 SHOW variables;

output:

and also you filter by variable name:

 SHOW variables WHERE Variable_name =  'max_allowed_packet';

4. Show Table size:

 SELECT TABLE_NAME AS `users`, ROUND((DATA_LENGTH + INDEX_LENGTH) / 1024 / 1024) AS `Size (MB)` FROM information_schema.TABLES WHERE TABLE_NAME = "users" AND TABLE_SCHEMA = 'my_blog'

Output:

More are coming soon..

Ubuntu: How to install an old Firefox version

If you want to install an old version of Firefox, you just have to follow these steps:

In this case, I had Firefox 4.5.0 and now I want to install Firefox 47.0.1


First, open your terminal

1. Download firefox 47.0.1
   
   wget https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/47.0.1/linux-x86_64/en-US/firefox-47.0.1.tar.bz2
2. Unzip Firefox
   
   tar -xjvf firefox-47.0.1.tar.bz2
3. We remove the old version
   
   sudo rm -rf /opt/firefox*
4. we move the unzip firefox 47.0.1 to the firefox folder
   
   sudo mv firefox /opt/firefox
5. create symbolic link
   
   sudo ln -sf /opt/firefox/firefox /usr/bin/firefox