Who doesn’t love a good JSON blob? That’s the way most of our data comes these days. Whether you’re interacting with an API or gathering some data from a database, you’re probably getting back JSON. Most popular programming languages have built-in ways to manipulate and parse JSON into different objects and formats. However, if you’re working with data at the shell level in Bash, things aren’t always so simple.

By default shells like Bash do not have a standard JSON parser included. You would either have to drop into a programming language interpreter or install a small dedicated utility. If…

Finding that perfect new piece of software isn’t always easy. There is an ocean of different options at your disposal. You can choose between a standalone app or a SaaS offering. There are different tiers of subscriptions, support packages and service levels. The choices can often be overwhelming.

As long as you’re armed with even the most basic of requirements, like core functionality and budget, you’re on the right track. But there are lots of supplemental tools and methods that can ease the pain of weeding out that perfect platform. Everything from making signing up for trials easier to checking…

If you build any type of software on a Mac, then you’re probably using iTerm2 as your terminal emulator. iTerm2 replaces the default “Terminal” application on macOS. Instead of that ugly, Jony-Ive-trapped-in a-white-room terminal, you instead get a sleek, functional and feature-rich terminal emulator.

iTerm2 is free, has immense community support and a thriving plug-in ecosystem. It’s no wonder why it has become the de facto terminal for Mac. The extensibility of iTerm2 is another reason why so many love it. You can tweak just about any setting you want to create a totally bespoke experience.

There is no doubt that the popularity of cryptocurrency has skyrocketed in recent years. Getting your head wrapped around just how exactly blockchain works or what Bitcoin actually is can be frustrating and confusing. There are blockchains, ledgers, contracts and even more buzzwords than the “Big Data” revolution.

If you’re just dipping your toes into the crypto world and have some development experience, I recommend checking out some publicly available libraries. This is an easy way to jump start your experience with crypto, get involved in the community and learn a little about the technical side of things.

In this…

Building React components is an art. There are many different ways to achieve similar results. You can use purely functional components or classes. You can build complex HOCs or keep everything flat. There are a lot of options when it comes to composition. With all these different choices, even implementing a simple data loading method might seem like a daunting task.

With a recent iteration of the prescribed ways to construct React components, the React team suggests creating functional components. Rather than rely on extending the React.Component class to create a component, you simply define a function. With this way…

If you collected every single different type of Linux distribution that has ever been created, you would probably need a data center the size of a small country to hold it all. The Linux operating system is an integral part of computer history and also one of the most popular operating systems today. Linux is free, efficient, and supported by an open-source community that spans the entire planet. With the ability to easily customize and extend Linux, it's no wonder there has been a sea of different versions produced.

There is a high likelihood that you could find a flavor…

Ansible is fast, efficient and easy to use. On it’s own it can handle deployments of just about any size and let’s you build out large-scale infrastructure with nothing more than a simple YAML interface. Sometimes, Ansible playbooks, roles and modules can grow to become inefficient and unweildy over time. The more complicated a role becomes and the more moving parts, cause that once elegant YAML to look and perform like a nightmare.

Iterating multiple times over the same collections, not using filters efficiently, or just burying everything under a complex conditional rats nest can leave Ansible sluggish and confusing…

Managing backups is the technological equivalent to the big, ugly elephant in the room. Everyone knows its there, but nobody wants to deal with it. What’s worse, there are hundreds of different ways to implement a backup solution. You can purchase some off-the-shelf software, use an open-source solution or roll-your-own custom project. There are pros and cons to each type of solution and depending on your environment and the sensitivity of data you might not even have much choice.

If you’re tired of using third-party tools that don’t perform the way you want and you have the flexibility to settle…