node.js

A long time ago, websites used to be a bunch of files, and if you're lucky they were attached to a database. It was simple, you update the database and the site updates. Planning how to utilise and optimise technology to help in the running InDEx was something I spent a lot of time thinking about. In this blog post, I wanted to share how I, with InDEx, utilise technology to make me more productive, automate processes and be efficient when conducting research. Technology is a great resource when used correctly, and it is not as expensive as you might think. With InDEx, it actually saves money by ensuring we provision servers to meet demand and not have them active...

Auto deployment of code would not only save me time, it would ensures that my repository is deployed in the same manner with every push; without the need of ssh'ing into the server. I recently spent some time exploring the best solution to auto deployment with GitHub using private token keys (I did not want to use SSH for this). For a project I am currently working on, I needed the ability to push (or commit) updates to my master Git repository and then forward to them to a server. There are many solutions out there, but they were over engineered and complex. I just wanted a simple solution that works with node.js. This would enable me to embed...

This is the final post of the two part series for creating a MEAN stack user authentication framework with SMS verification. You can read about setting up the back-end server here. This blog post will explore the development of the IONIC app for both Android and iOS; including the ability to call our API to validate an SMS number using Authy. Below is an example of the Login App we are going to create. All the code will be available on my GitHub page here. This repo contains the Login App and back-end server. Take note of the comments within the ReadMe file. I am using the MEAN stack, but you can use any type of environment as the principles...

In this mini two part series I am going to share some code and guidance on how to use Twilio/Authy for user SMS authentication using a MEAN stack enviorment to create a full authentication system for a mobile phone app (iOS/Android) or web app. This blog post will explore the development of the backend server; including API, MongoDB database and authenticating users. A follow-up post will explore the creation of the IONIC app (can be adapted to web app) and will be live in a couple of days. The series will cover: Registration, validation and storing of user credentials. Authy authentication and SMS messaging Log in a user using token based authentication. Protect routes and app states based...

Identifying the role that technology plays now and in the future is crucial. We should always seek to future-proof our developments to ensure they remain relevant in the short/medium term. We are at the start of the InDEx project project; where we are mindful of selecting the most suitable technology platform to take us into the future. One of the first decisions we have to make is: which full-stack (otherwise development/production environment) should develop with. For the uninitiated, the term full-stack means working with all the layers from the back-end to the front-end technologies. For many years, the standard environment was referred to as the LAMP and it primarily involved Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP or Perl or...