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What kind of test do I need for my software?
Sun, 04/16/2023 - 10:27 — Alexis Wilke
Introduction
Most software companies run in that dilemma. In order to write software that works, you want to write some tests. The question for many of these companies is: what kind of tests are most efficient for my business?
Here we talk about seven common test practices in the software industry.
1. Unit Testing
Probably the most used form of testing is Unit Testing. This is easy to write and very effective in discovering bugs. If you are looking at verifying correctness, this is 100% what you need to have to test your software.
Why is it easy to write?
In most cases, Unit ...
Metaprogramming in C++ to create functions that depend on their input parameters
Sat, 03/26/2022 - 10:48 — Alexis WilkeI've been using metaprogramming for a while now. An interesting aspect to the ability to define an invalid (unavailable) type, allows you to declare functions that do not get selected by the C++ template system.
The following is a simple example where you want to test a version where the major, minor and patch version numbers are defined as an undefined type T which could be a signed or an unsigned type while compiling. If unsigned, the return value < 0; statement will generate a warning and for safer programming, you should not allow any warnings (we use the -Werror command line ...
Top 6 Benefits of Hotel Management Software
Fri, 02/11/2022 - 16:22 — Alexis WilkeTechnology is ever-changing, and it brings huge operational benefits to all industries, including hospitality. However, not every business has the time, energy, funds, and resources to constantly invest in the latest technological breakthroughs.
That being said, there are a few simple and cost-effective operational aids that are easy to setup and make running a hospitality business that much easier, like hotel management software.
Not sure if you need new software for your hotel? Keep reading to learn how digital hotel management solutions improve efficiency.
1. Accurate Reports
Hotel ...
The Benefits of Keyword Research Software
Fri, 12/04/2020 - 08:11 — Alexis Wilke
You've heard it said that a team is only as good as its leader, right? In the world of computer systems, many times, a computer is only as good as its software.
If you do any marketing research or work for an online company, one of the best software you could ask for is a keyword finder. If your job focuses on marketing techniques and sale inquiries, keyword finders are the way to go.
Why? Let's discuss the most significant benefits these handy tools can provide for you!
1. They Help Narrow the Search Results
If you are searching for information about a subject ...
Docker, an advanced chroot utility
Fri, 11/29/2019 - 18:09 — Alexis Wilke
SECURITY WARNING
Before installing Docker and containers with services on your Linux system, make sure to read and understand the risks as mentioned on this Docker and iptables page. Especially, Docker will make all your containers visible to the entire world through your Internet connection. This is great if you want to indeed share that service with the rest of the world, it's very dangerous if you are working on that container service since it could have security issues that need patching and such. Docker documents a way to prevent that behavior by adding the following rule to your firewall:
iptables -I DOCKER-USER -i eth0 ! -s 192.168.1.0/24 -j DROP
This means that unless the IP address matches 192.168.1.0/24, the access is refused. The `eth0` interface name should be replaced with the interface name you use as the external ethernet connection. During development, you should always have such a rule.
That has not worked at all for me because my local network includes many other computers on my LAN and this rule blocks them all. So really not a useful idea.
Instead, I created my own entries based on some other characteristics. That includes the following lines in my firewall file:
*filter :DOCKER-USER - [0:0] -A DOCKER-USER -j early_forward -A DOCKER-USER -i eno1 -p tcp -m conntrack --ctorigdstport 80 --ctdir ORIGINAL -j DROP -A DOCKER-USER -i eno1 -p tcp -m conntrack --ctorigdstport 8080 --ctdir ORIGINAL -j DROP -A DOCKER-USER -i eno1 -p tcp -m conntrack --ctorigdstport 8081 --ctdir ORIGINAL -j DROP
My early_forward allows my LAN to continue to work. These are my firewall rules that allow my LAN computers to have their traffic forwarded as expected.
Then I have three rules that block port 80, 8080, and 8081 from Docker.
Docker will add new rules that will appear after (albeit not within the DOCKER-USER list) and will open ports for whatever necessary service you install in your Dockers.
Note that the only ports you have to block are ports that Docker will share and that you have otherwise open on your main server. If Docker opens port 5000 and your firewall does not allow connections to port 5000 from the outside, then you're already safe. On my end I have Apache running so as a result I block quite usual HTTP ports from Docker.
Docker
As we are helping various customers, we encounter new technologies.
In the old days, we used chroot to create a separate environment where you could have your own installation and prevent the software from within that environment access to everything on your computer. This is particularly useful for publicly facing services liek Apache, Bind, etc.
Help with version 0.1.7 of Zipios (CVE-2019-13453)
Fri, 07/12/2019 - 16:45 — Alexis WilkeHere is yet another example of why opensource is a really good way of getting things fixed.
Assuming you have a project that is getting used by many, you are likely to see people post issues about bugs and possible enhancements. Your software is even very likely to get improved on its own by enthousiast users. On Github, for example, it is very easy to fork a project (make a copy) and then work on your version of the software. You can then offer a fix to the main authors of the project with a near one to one copy of the project.
In our case, a security professional, Mike Salvatore, was asked ...
CSS3 media queries
Sat, 01/14/2012 - 21:26 — Alexis WilkeCSS is improving with the introduction of CSS3.
Contrary to the previous version, CSS3 supports selections that are very advanced, offering capabilities close to what you could write in JavaScript.
Today I wanted to talk about the Media Queries because that can be used to very much optimize the list of links used to load your CSS data.
In HTML, you can use a <link ...> to add a CSS file to your page.
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="style.css" />
In this case, the file style.css will always be loaded, whatever the media being used.
Upgrade to PHP 5.3.3 or newer because of security issue
Thu, 06/09/2011 - 16:26 — Alexis WilkeIf you are responsible for a Debian or Ubuntu server and run PHP on it, make sure to run the following command to fix several security issues found in PHP:
sudo apt-get install php5-suhosin
This will make the necessary and your PHP version (security wise) will look like you have PHP 5.3.3.
What I found quite annoying in regard to this issue is the fact that it was very difficult to find a mention of this upgrade. All I could find in large number were people saying that you'd have to get an upgrade using the source code of PHP. Somehow, I did not feel like upgrading PHP from ...
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