What I Code
It’s All About Syntax!
I wrote my first piece of code, a stick fighting game, in BASIC when I was 8 years old on my old 386 computer. I dabbled a bit more with programming and my dad had bought me a BASIC for Dummies book shortly afterwards. I did pretty much all of the tutorials and examples in the book, and then didn’t code again, mainly because my 8 and 9 year old mind didn’t know what to create with code. When I was about 10 or 11 I started messing around with Visual Basic, it kind of reminds me of the Blocks programming interfaces of today when I look back at it, I made a calculator, was pleased with myself and didn’t code much again apart from basic HTML and PHP for websites, I did some naughty things to websites.
Fast forward a good couple of years and I taught myself Dart within the Flutter framework, I have learnt the basics of Python and C#, and when I mean the basics, I mean the syntax. I have a firm grasp of Object Oriented Programming and once you understand the syntax of the specific language, you can pretty much code in it with little difficulties. I make all sorts of apps and scripts, but right now i’m mainly focused on Mobile Apps. I am also in the process of learning Swift to be able to code native Mac apps.
Some of my work
I develop for all platforms, Desktop(macOS, Windows and Linux) and mobile(iOS, iPadOS and Android) and then I also work with embedded systems such as Raspberry Pi and Nvidia Jetson Nano. I do some deep learning, machine learning and neural network stuff but have yet to find a true purpose for the artificial intelligence at present. I’m sure I will find a proper application for it at some point.
Rufus
I have a JetBot called Rufus that is based on the Nvidia Jetson Nano platform. My goal for it was to train a neural network based on my dogs to use the built in camera to detect objects and identify my dogs, the neural network was trained for each dog so it doesn’t just identify a dog, it identifies which dog it is too and can also distinguish between my two Maltese who do look similar.When Rufus detects a dog, depending on which dog it is, it will execute code which either shouts at the dog to leave it alone, it either chases a dog or it runs away from the dog. Currently I am trying to introduce randomized behaviour and roaming. It is also trained to avoid objects using the camera so it doesn’t actually drive into walls, chairs, couches etc.
The Knife!
My dad is a self professed audiophile, he loves listening to high quality lossless audio. In general this high quality music comes in a single track which is a copy of a audio CD. He used an app to split the track into its individual tracks, another app to add the metadata such as artist, song title and album cover art and then a third app to make a playlist file. I told him I would make him a one click execution app that does all these things automattically. He enjoys it so much I made it widely available to other audiophiles globally at https://theknife.conman.co.za
Yes Dogs App
This app is a scheduler for a Dog Grooming company. It stores all the clients/dogs and allows for a schedule to be setup, rescheduling etc. It has all the information the Groomer would require of the owner and dog, with personal notes and observations section. There is also a section to keep track of grooming supplies. The home page is setup in a way to allow the Groomer to see their appointments at a glance.
SWRT App
This is a simple Social Media app for an Organisation which wants to have their participants showcase through feedback and photos what happened at the events and how they felt about the event.
I made an app for my ex-roommate and I to be able to ping to make coffee. You would select your desired coffee, specify how you would like it made and then it saves it as a favourite. Everytime you were wanting a cup you just open your favourites, select the one you want and then a notification would be sent to the other persons phone.
My goal for it though is to expand it into a family edition where on large family gatherings where everyone wants coffee, with so many varied specifications, it would be easy to keep track of the orders. I also want to add a nomination system so people can nominate a coffee slave.
Trying to develop a game in the Unity Engine, and what I have discovered is that its not as simple as writing code for an app. There are far more things to factor in, not just game assets such as textures, objects and animations, but the actual code for every single thing you want to have happen, and that which you don’t. The scope is massive and it can often be a laborious and mundane endeavour.
Coding has always been a passion for me, and now that i’m older I can actually put it to use, because the stupid and silly ideas I have for apps, I actually sit down and bring into the world. I also like the puzzle solving challenge that programming brings.