Multi-language software programs

When two bilingual people talk to each other, they often tend to mix the two languages in their conversation. Have you heard of Hinglish?

As a software developer, it makes me wonder - is this doable or already done for programming languages?

Vanilla JS

I am a proponent of using Vanilla JS [1,2,3,4] wherever possible. It is plain JavaScript without external frameworks. In my last two jobs, I built many feature-rich and cross platform apps using HTML5, JavaScript and CSS, without depending on the popular frameworks such as jQuery, React or Angular. There are numerous articles on the web about the benefits (and problems) of using plain JS, i.e., without frameworks. Here, I present my thoughts and some reading list for developers who want to avoid frameworks too if possible.

A generic video-io component for WebRTC

This article proposes a generic video-io web component for WebRTC. It can enable various real-time applications such as voice/video conferencing, video messaging, video presence and video broadcast. This client side component may be connected with any signaling channel or mechanism to integrate with existing or new websites or applications. 

By encapsulating the core functions in a single easy-to-understand component, the component enables reuse of the core media features present in WebRTC. Without this, a user relies on the individual website or application developer to support and expose those media features. 

Additionally, I describe the design of a global secure application service that can act as a signaling mechanism for all such component instances.

Lessons in web software development

Here is a summary of what I feel are important to me for creating web applications as an individual developer or in a small team. My hope is to help other developers with the important topics that I assembled. These topics include local development, cross platform and responsive, loose coupling but strict APIs, flexible code, customization, avoid artificial and arbitrary restrictions, state vs. stateless, separation of data and application logic, performance, robustness, caching, one more level of indirection, security, configuration, and reduce fat!

WebRTC notification system and signaling paradigms

This article describes notification system in WebRTC, and presents some common signaling paradigms found in existing WebRTC applications: How does WebRTC work? What is a notification service? What are the signaling paradigms? Which one would you choose? Can the abstractions be converted from one another?

Reason for technology failures - chat bots, video conferencing, or you name it.

Every so often, I come across articles explaining why a piece of technology failed. For example, why chat bots failed in 2018, or why video call did not work for customer support. I think the answer to these and other similar questions can be attributed to three points: (1) not a holistic approach, (2) wrong audience, (3) unreasonable expectations. Let me elaborate further.