The DNS ABC

Introduction to DNS

Before joining OpenTable I was looking for a software engineer job and I've done my fair share of interviews. A question that has popped out a lot, and when I say a lot I mean always, is:

Could you tell me what happens when I type an URL in a web browser on my computer and press enter?

Of course the possible answers could range from "MMMHHH, wellll, I'm not sure where to start..." to a whole book on computer networks.

After a number of attempts to answer briefly and correctly, I've concluded that mentioning DNS can make a reasonable start.

A Beginner's guide to REST services

Why this post?

As a junior, I always find it easier to just sit and write code than actually stop to think about the theoretical basis that lie under the applications I work on. REST is one of those terms I heard a lot about, so I decided to try to sum up what it means and how it affects the choices we make everyday as software engineers.

Introduction to REST

REST stands for Representational State Transfer, and it can be defined as an architectural style used to build Web Services that are lightweight, maintainable, and scalable. A service that is designed by REST principles can be called a RESTful service.

It has been described first in 2000 by Roy Fielding, in a dissertation called "Architectural Styles and the Design of Network-based Software Architectures". The basic idea was to describe the interactions between the components of a distributed system, putting constraints on them and emphasizing the importance of an uniform interface, that is abstracted from the single components.

REST is often applied to the design and development of web services, which is the scenario I'll try to address in this post.

New Job.

After three months I am a bit scared to reopen the blog. Like you'd be scared of eating something that has been left in a fridge for the same amount of time.

Yes, in this tech thing three months without any update make something old and stale. And maybe that's why I love it.

Graduation!

It's often wise to sit down and let some time pass after something important happens in your life, before trying to get some sense out of it, especially if you want to write some stuff about it.

I am a Makers Academy graduate, in the end. This has been a wild ride. Something I will not forget, ever.

Day 61 - Project Day 5.

Weekend? 8 hours of sleep in three days. Today? Really not great. Still at Makers, trying to get something good out of this day. Here's how I look like. Self explanatory, right?