Developers are the ultimate power users, we're really lazy and we hate to repeat ourselves. We'll spend hours automating 5 minute boring repetitive tasks - often wasting more time than it would take just to do it manually. Over the years we build up arsenals of useful tools that makes us more efficient, in this blog post I'll cover some of mine.
HTTPie is a small CLI tool for interacting with http-servers, it's very useful for debugging and testing out CRUD-like (REST, etc.) services. It's based on python, and can be installed using pip.
ngrok is a small tool you can use for breaking through firewalls. Say that you're working on a web project served up on localhost on your laptop, simply execute ngrok <portnumber> and ngrok will set up a tunnel to a hosted server and provide you with a public url. It also serves up a dashboard where you can show and inspect requests live, very useful for debugging. You can also use it to replay requests, for example while debugging something.
It can also be used for quick and easy tcp forwarding: ngrok -proto=tcp 22 to expose your local ssh-server remotely.
It's open source (apache), and has a pay-what-you-want model for the hosted server. Most of the features can be used without signing up.
Vagrant is tool for easily setting up virtual development environments. It acts as a wrapper around virtualbox, vmware or similar, and allows you to conveniently and consistently build, distribute and run virtual environments. Say that you're working on a project that requires go-lang, mongodb and nginx. You don't want to install and run all these services in your main environment, you want to isolate them and keep them contained with all their dependencies.
If you run vagrant up now, it will build the vm from the base image again. This is awesome for saving space for projects that are put on the back burner. Vagrant images can be provisioned using chef, puppet or simple shell-scripts.
If you now execute vagrant up, it will set up a ubuntu base box, install the latest upgrades, and then install golang, mongodb and nginx. Check Vagrantfile and the provisioning script into git with the project source code, and your entire team has a consistent development environment - awesome!
Vagrant provides a metric ton of possibilities and you can easily do things complex multi-machine setups with different networking scenarios, check out the manual for more information. Vagrant 1.6 will also add support for running Windows guests - pretty cool! Provisioning is done via WinRM, and you get easy access to desktop via $ vagrant rdp and synced folders also work.
This is a overlooked powerhouse that deserves to be used. You can think of it kinda like xargs on steroids. Everytime you do something with a shell for-loop, or hack something together with xargs, gnu parallel can probably do it better.
Launching a webserver in the local directory for ad-hoc tasks is very useful, and python is pretty awesome for this python -m SimpleHTTPServer or python -m http.server (for python v3). There's only one problem - it's slow, single-threaded/blocking (modern multi-file js heavy project can give weird errors), and will crash on big files (try serving up a movie to an iPad or similar).
I use this for so many different tasks, like serving up files during development, for moving files to other computers, for streaming movies on tablets or other computers, etc.. etc..
Dash is a documentation browser and code snippet manager, allowing you to search documentation while offline. It will download (and keep up to date) documentation from a wide array of languages and frameworks (you select from a list). It integrates with most editors.
I do not use the snippet functionality, but the documentation browser / search ability is pretty decent, especially if you're trying to work offline. Just load up on all the languages and frameworks you normally use.
You know when you're coding on a small laptop screen, and constantly {alt/cmd}-tab to some reference documentation in your browser - isn't that annoying?
Hit a keyboard shortcut and snappy app takes a screenshot of the part of the screen you're interested in. It floats on top, and you can move it around. Double-click to dismiss.
RV camping with kids creates family memories and instills a love of nature in the next generation. The State of Arizona is a favorite with families who camp, thanks to the wide range of outdoor experiences available. Here’s our list of six outstanding places to camp with the kids in Arizona.
Buckskin Mountain State Park, south of Lake Havasu on the Colorado River, will welcome your family with roomy riverside campsites and fantastic views of the surrounding mountains. Outdoor recreation the kids will enjoy includes several scenic trails, water sports (boat launch is located near the campground), fishing, swimming and photographing desert wildlife. There’s also a convenient market on-site to make your family camping vacation even easier.
Homolovi State Park, on Hwy 40 at Winslow, can kick-start your kids’ interest in Native American history. The park protects the 14th century ruins of Homolovi, once inhabited by the Anasazi and considered sacred by the Hopi people.
Your family can learn more about the history and culture of this special place while camping there, thanks to the museum and visitor center with displays about on-going archaeological research. Another way this park will entertain and amaze the kids is with outstanding stargazing opportunities. Check the Homolovi SP website for special ‘star night parties’ throughout the year.
Before we move on to our next Arizona family camping spot, here’s a tip for parents: most Arizona state parks participate in the Junior Ranger program. Kids complete the activity book while visiting a state park and can then be sworn in to the Junior Ranger program by a Park Ranger.
Lost Dutchman State Park, east of Phoenix in the Sonoran Desert, offers camping in the shadow of the Superstition Mountains, and a whole lot more, for your family’s entertainment. From hiking trails through the rugged beauty of the high desert to nearby Apache Junction, complete with ghost town, cowboy shows and other Western-themed entertainment, Lost Dutchman can be the epicenter for a memorable camping vacation.
Ranger-led nature walks and demonstrations can inspire your youngsters to explore the desert habitat more deeply, and the stargazing opportunities are excellent here, as well. This park’s roomy campsites welcome your largest rental RV, so bring the whole family and enjoy the unique experience of camping in the Sonoran desert.
Lyman Lake State Park, just across the border from New Mexico on US-191, is a boating family’s dream vacation spot. The state park surrounds a fifteen-hundred-acre mountain lake that allows any size watercraft, so bring the boat, the fishing gear and the RV for a water-themed Arizona RV camping vacation.
Three shorter hiking trails will also encourage the kids to take time away from their screens to discover petroglyphs, mountain wildlife and great views of the lake. Bald and Golden Eagles and Great Blue Herons are known to nest near the lake, so why not teach the kids to identify these mighty birds while on vacation? You’ll find the campground, camp store, boat launches and no-wake swimming and fishing areas combine to create the best possible environment for your RV camping family.
Picacho Peak State Park, about an hour and a half south of Phoenix on I-10, is another high desert getaway your family will enjoy. It’s especially good for families with bored teens in need of a challenge, thanks to the hiking trails that wind their way up to the Peak. For this trip, bring your hiking gear and plenty of water and prepare to be pushed to the limit by the rocky Hunter Trail.
The campground has electric sites only, but water and a dump station are available in a central location. Science-minded youngsters will love the natural desert setting of the campsites, so be sure to have them pack their notebooks for recording plant and animal life. There are also a visitor center and historic markers with details on the only Civil War battle in Arizona, the Battle of Picacho Pass.
Kartchner Caverns State Park, a couple of hours south of Phoenix, through Tucson on I-10, is home to an underground wonderland waiting to be explored by your family. Only revealed to the public in the 1980s, this limestone cave in the foothills of the Whetstone Mountains can be seen on a Ranger-led tour that’s suitable for grade school kids and older.
Both mountain and desert trails provide even more interest for your family, and the park’s scheduled stargazing parties are popular with campers, as well. To ensure a pleasant experience on this vacation, be sure to purchase your tickets for the cave tour in advance and arrive at the park’s Discovery Center an hour before your scheduled tour time. The campground here offers electric/water sites plus shower houses, dishwashing stations and other amenities.
Come to Arizona on your next family RV camping vacation! It’s easy to rent an RV in Phoenix, and the state’s excellent highway system makes these state park locations simple to access. Whether it’s beside a mountain lake or in the peace and beauty of the desert, camping with the kids in Arizona is an experience every active family should enjoy.