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Cloud-native applications are an assembly of independent services used to build new applications, optimize existing ones, and connect them in such a way that the applications can skillfully deliver the desired result. More specifically, they are employed to build scalable and fault-tolerant applications in public, private, or hybrid clouds.  Launched in March this year, Quarkus, a new Kubernetes-native framework launched its first stable version, Quarkus 1.0 last month. Quarkus allows Java developers to combine the power of containers, microservices, and cloud-native to build reliable applications. To get a more clear understanding of Cloud-Native Applications with Java and Quarkus, we interviewed Francesco Marchioni, a Red Hat Certified JBoss Administrator (RHCJA) and Sun Certified Enterprise Architect (SCEA) working at Red Hat. Francesco is the author of the book ‘Hands-On Cloud-Native Applications with Java and Quarkus’.  Francesco on Quarkus 1.0 and how Quarkus is bringing Java into the modern microservices and serverless modes of developing Quarkus is coming up with its first stable version Quarkus 1.0 at the end of this month. It is expected to have features like a new reactive core based on Vert.x, a non-blocking security layer, and a new Quarkus ecosystem called ‘universe’. What are you most excited about in Quarkus 1.0? What are your favorite features in Quarkus? One of my favorite features of Quarkus is the reactive core ecosystem which supports both reactive and imperative programming models, letting Quarkus handle the execution model switch for you. This is one of the biggest gains you will enjoy when moving from a monolithic core, which is inherently based on synchronous executions, to a reactive environment that follows events and not just a loop of instructions. I also consider of immense value that the foundation of Quarkus API is a well-known set of APIs that I was already skilled with, therefore I could ramp up and write a book about it in less than one year! How does the Quarkus Java framework compare with Spring? How do you think the Spring API compatibility in Quarkus 1.0 will help developers? Both Quarkus and Spring boot offer a powerful stack of technologies and tools to build Java applications. In general terms, Quarkus inherits its core features from the Java EE, with CDI and JAX-RS being the most evident example. On the other hand, Spring boot follows an alternative modular architecture based on the Spring core. In terms of Microservices, they also differ as Quarkus leverages the Microprofile API while Spring Boot relies on Spring Boot Actuator and Netflix Hystrix. Besides the different stacks, Quarkus has some unique features available out of the box such as Build time class initialization, Kubernetes resources generation and GraalVM native images support. Although there are no official benchmarks, in the typical case of a REST Service built with Quarkus, you can observe an RSS memory reduction to half and a 5x increase in boot speed. In terms of compatibility, it's worth mentioning that, while users are encouraged to use CDI annotations for your applications, Quarkus provides a compatibility layer for Spring dependency injection (e.g. @Autowired) in the form of the spring-di extension. Quarkus is tailored for GraalVM and crafted by best-of-breed Java libraries and standards. How do you think Quarkus brings Java into the modern microservices and serverless modes of developing? Also, why do you think Java continues to be a top programming language for back-end enterprise developers? Although native code execution, in combination with GraalVM, Quarkus is an amazing opportunity for Java. I mean I wouldn't say Quarkus is just native centric as it immediately buys to Java developers an RSS memory reduction to about half, an increase in boot speed, top Garbage Collector performance, plus a set of libraries that are tailored for the JDK. This makes Java a first-class citizen in the microservices ecosystem and I bet it will continue to be one of the top programming languages still for many years. On how his book will benefit Java developers and architects In your book “Hands-On Cloud-Native Applications with Java and Quarkus” you have demonstrated advanced application development techniques such as Reactive Programming, Message Streaming, Advanced configuration hacks. Apart from these, what are the other techniques that can be used for managing advanced application development in Quarkus? Also, apart from the use cases in your book, what other areas/domains can you use Quarkus? In terms of configuration, a whole chapter of the book explores the advanced configuration options which are derived from the MicroProfile config API and the Applications’ profile management, which is a convenient way to shift the configuration options from one environment to another- think for example how easy can be with Quarkus to switch from a Production DB to a Development or Test Database. Besides the use cases discussed in the book, I’d say Quarkus is rather polyvalent, based on the number of extensions that are already available. For example, you can easily extend the example provided in the last chapter, which is about Streaming Data, with advanced transformation patterns and routes provided by the camel extension, thus leveraging the most common integration scenarios. What does your book aim to share with readers? Who will benefit the most from your book? How will your book help Java developers and architects in understanding the microservice architecture? This book is a log of my journey through the Quarkus Land which started exactly one year ago, at its very first internal preview by our engineers. Therefore my first aim is to ignite the same passion to the readers, whatever is their "maturity level" in the IT. I believe developers and architects from the Java Enterprise trenches will enjoy the fastest path to learning Quarkus as many extensions are pretty much the same they have been using for years. Nevertheless, I believe any young developer with a passion for learning can quickly get on board and become proficient with Quarkus by the end of this book. One advantage of younger developers over seasoned ones, like me, is that it will be easier for them to start thinking in terms of services instead of building up monolithic giant applications like we used to do for years. Although microservices patterns are not the main focus of this book, a lot of work has been done to demonstrate how to connect services and not just how to build them up. On how Red Hat uses Quarkus in its products and service Red Hat is already using Quarkus in their products and services. How is it helping Red Hat in increasing the efficiency of your Cloud-Native applications? To be precise, Quarkus is not yet a Red Hat supported Product, but it has already reached an important milestone with the release Quarkus 1.0 final, so it will definitely be included in the list of our supported products, according to our internal productization road-map. That being said, Red Hat is working in increasing the efficiency of your Cloud-Native applications in several ways through a combination of practices, technologies, processes that can be summarized in the following steps that will eventually lead to cloud-native application success: Evolve a DevOps culture and practices to embrace new technology through tighter collaboration. Speed up existing, monolithic applications with simple migration processes that will eventually lead to microservices or mini services. Use ready-to-use developer tools such as application services, to speed up the development of business logic. Openshift tools (web and CLI) is an example of it. Choose the right tool for the right application by using a container-based application platform that supports a large mix of frameworks, languages, and architectures. Provide self-service, on-demand infrastructure for developers using containers and container orchestration technology to simplify access to the underlying infrastructure, give control and visibility to IT operations, and provide application lifecycle management across environments. Automate IT to accelerate application delivery using clear service requirements definition, self-service catalogs that empower users (such as the Container catalog) and metering, monitoring of runtime processes. Implement continuous delivery and advanced deployment techniques to accelerate the delivery of your cloud-native applications. Evolve your applications into a modular architecture by choosing a design that fits your specific needs, such as microservices, a monolith-first approach, or mini services. On Quarkus’ cloud-native security and its competitors Cloud-native applications provide customers with a better time-to-market strategy and also allows them to build, more robust, resilient, scalable, and cost-effective applications. However, they also come with a big risk of potential security breaches. What is your take on cloud-native security for cloud-native applications? Also, what are your thoughts on future-proofing cloud applications? Traditionally, IT security was focused on hardening and the datacenter perimeter—but today, with Cloud applications, that perimeter is fading out. Public and hybrid clouds are shifting responsibility for security and regulatory compliance across the vendors. The adoption of containers at scale requires the adoption of new methods of analyzing, securing, and updating the delivery of applications. As a result, static security policies don’t scale well for containers in the enterprise but need to move to a new concept of security called "continuous container security". This includes some key aspects such as securing the container pipeline and the application, securing the container deployment environment(s) and infrastructure, integrating with enterprise security tools and meeting or enhancing existing security policies. About future-proofing of cloud applications, I believe proper planning and diligence can ensure that a company’s cloud investments withstand future change or become future-proof. It needs to be understood that new generation applications (such as apps for social, gaming and generally mobile apps) have different requirements and generate different workloads. This new generation of applications requires a substantial amount of dynamic scaling and elasticity that would be quite expensive or impossible to achieve with traditional architectures based on old data centers and bare-metal machines. Micronaut and Helidon, the other two frameworks that support GraalVM native images and target cloud-native microservices are often compared to Quarkus. In what aspects are they similar? And in what ways is Quarkus better than and/or different from the other two?   Although it is challenging to compare a set of cutting edge frameworks as some factors might vary in a middle/long term perspective, in general terms I'd say that Quarkus provides the highest level of flexibility especially if you want to combine reactive programming model with the imperative programming model. Also, Quarkus builds on the top of well-known APIs such as CDI, JAX-RS, and Microprofile API, and uses the standard "javax" namespaces to access them. Hence, the transition from the former Enterprise application is quite smooth compared with competitive products. Micronaut too has some interesting features such as support for multiple programming languages (Java, Kotlin, and Groovy the latter being exclusive of Micronaut) and a powerful Command Line Interface (CLI) to generate projects. (A CLI is not yet available in Quarkus, although there are plans to include it in the upcoming versions of it). On the other hand, Helidon is the less polyglot alternative (supports only Java right now) yet, it features a clean and simple approach to Container by providing a self-contained Dockerfile that can be built by simply calling docker build, not requiring anything locally (except the Docker tool of course). Also, the fact that Helidon plays well with GraalVM should be acknowledged as they are both official Oracle products. So, although for new projects the decision is often a matter of personal preferences and individual skills in your team, I'd say that Quarkus leverages existing Java Enterprise experience for faster results. If you want to become an expert in building Cloud-Native applications with Java and Quarkus, learn the end-to-end development guide presented in the book “Hands-On Cloud-Native Applications with Java and Quarkus”. This book will also help you in understanding a wider range of distributed application architectures to use a full-stack framework and give you a headsup on the new features in Quarkus 1.0. About the author Francesco Marchioni is a Red Hat Certified JBoss Administrator (RHCJA) and Sun Certified Enterprise Architect (SCEA) working at Red Hat in Rome, Italy. He started learning Java in 1997, and since then he has followed all the newest application program interfaces released by Sun. In 2000, he joined the JBoss community, when the application server was running the 2.X release. He has spent years as a software consultant, where he has enabled many successful software migrations from vendor platforms to open source products, such as JBoss AS, fulfilling the tight budget requirements necessitated by the current economy. Francesco also manages a blog on 'WildFly Application Server, Openshift, JBoss Projects and Enterprise Applications' focused on Java and JBoss technologies. You can reach him on Twitter and LinkedIn. RedHat’s Quarkus announces plans for Quarkus 1.0, releases its rc1  How Quarkus brings Java into the modern world of enterprise tech Introducing ‘Quarkus’, a Kubernetes native Java framework for GraalVM & OpenJDK HotSpot OpenJDK Project Valhalla’s head shares how they plan to enhance the Java language and JVM with value types, and more Snyk’s JavaScript frameworks security report 2019 shares the state of security for React, Angular, and other frontend projects

Introduced in 2014, GANs (Generative Adversarial Networks) was first presented by Ian Goodfellow and other researchers at the University of Montreal. It comprises of two deep networks, the generator which generates data instances, and the discriminator which evaluates the data for authenticity. GANs works not only as a form of generative model for unsupervised learning, but also has proved useful for semi-supervised learning, fully supervised learning, and reinforcement learning. In this article, we are in conversation with Greg Walters, one of the authors of the book 'Hands-On Generative Adversarial Networks with PyTorch 1.x', where we discuss some of the real-world applications of GANs. According to Greg, facial recognition and age progression will one of the areas where GANs will shine in the future. He believes that with time GANs will soon be visible in more real-world applications, as with GANs the possibilities are unlimited. On why PyTorch for building GANs Why choose PyTorch for GANs? Is PyTorch better than other popular frameworks like Tensorflow? Both PyTorch and Tensorflow are good products. Tensorflow is based on code from Google and PyTorch is based on code from Facebook. I think that PyTorch is more pythonic and (in my opinion) is easier to learn. Tensorflow is two years older than PyTorch, which gives it a bit of an edge, and does have a few advantages over PyTorch like visualization and deploying trained models to the web. However, one of the biggest advantages that PyTorch has is the ability to handle distributed training. It’s much easier when using PyTorch. I’m sure that both groups are looking at trying to lessen the gaps that exist and that we will see big changes in both. Refer to Chapter 4 of my book to learn how to use PyTorch to train a GAN model. Have you had a chance to explore the recently released PyTorch 1.3 version? What are your thoughts on the experimental feature - named tensors? How do you think it will help developers in getting a more readable and maintainable code? What are your thoughts on other features like PyTorch Mobile and 8-bit model quantization for mobile-optimized AI? The book was originally written to introduce PyTorch 1.0 but quickly evolved to work with PyTorch 1.3.x. Things are moving very quickly for PyTorch, so it presents an evermoving target.  Named tensors are very exciting to me. I haven’t had a chance to spend a tremendous amount of time on them yet, but I plan to continue working with them and explore them deeply. I believe that they will help make some of the concepts of manipulating tensors much easier for beginners to understand and read and understand the code created by others. This will help create more novel and useful GANs for the future. The same can be said for PyTorch Mobile. Expanding capabilities to more (and less expensive) processor types like ARM creates more opportunities for programmers and companies that don’t have the high-end capabilities. Consider the possibilities of running a heavy-duty AI on a $35 Raspberry Pi. The possibilities are endless. With PyTorch Mobile, both Android and iOS devices can benefit from the new advances in image recognition and other AI programs. The 8-bit model quantization allows tensor operations to be done using integers rather than floating-point values, allowing models to be more compact. I can’t begin to speculate on what this will bring us in the way of applications in the future. You can read Chapter 2 of my book to know more about the new features in PyTorch 1.3. On challenges and real-world applications of GANs GANs have found some very interesting implementations in the past year like a deepfake that can animate your face with just your voice, a neural GAN to fight fake news, a CycleGAN to visualize the effects of climate change, and more. Most of the GAN implementations are built for experimentation or research purposes. Do you think GANs can soon translate to solve real-world problems? What do you think are the current challenge that restrict GANs from being implemented in real-world scenarios? Yes. I do believe that we will see GANs starting to move to more real-world applications. Remember that in the grand scheme of things, GANs are still fairly new. 2014 wasn’t that long ago. We will see things start to pop in 2020 and move forward from there. As to the current challenges, I think that it’s simply a matter of getting the word out. Many people who are conversant with Machine Learning still haven’t heard of GANs, mainly due to the fact that they are so busy with what they know and are comfortable with, so they haven’t had the time and/or energy to explore GANs yet. That will change. Of course, things change on almost a daily basis, so who can guess where we will be in another two years? Some of the existing and future applications that GANs can help implement include new photo-realistic scenes for video games, movies, and television, taking sketches from designers and making realistic photographs in both the fashion industry and architecture, taking a partial facial image and making a rotated view for better facial recognition, age progression and regression and so much more. Pretty much anything with a pattern, be it image or text can be manipulated using GANs. There are a variety of GANs available out there. How should one approach them in terms of problem solving? What are the other possible ways to group GANs? That’s a very hard question to answer. You are correct, there are a large number of GANs in “the wild” and some work better for some things than others. That was one of the big challenges of writing the book.  Add to that, new GANs are coming out all the time that continue to get better and better and extend the possibility matrix. The best suggestion that I could make here is to use the resources of the Internet and read, read and read. Try one or two to see what works best for your application. Also, create your own category list that you create based on your research. Continue to refine the categories as you go. Then share your findings so others can benefit from what you’ve learned. New GANs implementations and future potential In your book, 'Hands-On Generative Adversarial Networks with PyTorch 1.x', you have demonstrated how GANs can be used in image restoration problems, such as super-resolution image reconstruction and image inpainting. How do SRGAN help in improving the resolution of images and performing image inpainting? What other deep learning models can be used to address image restoration problems? What are other keep image related problems where GANs are useful and relevant? Well, that is sort of like asking “how long is a piece of string”. Picture a painting in a museum that has been damaged from fire or over time. Right now, we have to rely on very highly trained experts who spend hundreds of hours to bring the painting back to its original glory. However, it’s still an approximation of what the expert THINKS the original was to be. With things like SRGAN, we can see old photos “restored” to what they were originally. We already can see colorized versions of some black and white classic films and television shows. The possibilities are endless. Image restoration is not limited to GANs, but at the moment seems to be one of the most widely used methods. Fairly new methods like ARGAN (Artifact Reduction GAN) and FD-GAN (Face De-Morphing GAN or Feature Distilling GAN) are showing a lot of promise. By the time I’m finished with this interview, there could be three or more others that will surpass these.  ARGAN is similar and can work with SRGAN to aid in image reconstruction. FD-GAN can be used to work with human position images, creating different poses from a totally different pose. This has any number of possibilities from simple fashion shots too, again, photo-realistic images for games, movies and television shows. Find more about image restoration from Chapter 7 of my book. GANs are labeled as innovative due to its ability to generate fake data that looks real. The latest developments in GANs allows it to generate high-dimensional fake data or image video that can easily go undetected. What is your take on the ethical issues surrounding GANs? Don’t you think developers should target creating GANs that will be good for humanity rather than developing scary AI capabilities? Good question. However, the same question has been asked about almost every advance in technology since rainbows were in black and white. Take, for example, the discussion in Chapter 6 where we use CycleGAN to create van Gogh like images. As I was running the code we present, I was constantly amazed by how well the Generator kept coming up with better fakes that looked more and more like they were done by the Master. Yes, there is always the potential for using the technology for “wrong” purposes. That has always been the case. We already have AI that can create images that can fool talent scouts and fake news stories. J. Hector Fezandie said back in 1894, "with great power comes great responsibility" and was repeated by Peter Parker’s Uncle Ben thanks to Stan Lee. It was very true then and is still just as true. How do you think GANs will be contributing to AI innovations in the future? Are you expecting/excited to see an implementation of GANs in a particular area/domain in the coming years? 5 years ago, GANs were pretty much unknown and were only in the very early stages of reality.  At that point, no one knew the multitude of directions that GANs would head towards. I can’t begin to imagine where GANs will take us in the next two years, much let the far future. I can’t imagine any area that wouldn’t benefit from the use of GANs. One of the subjects we wanted to cover was facial recognition and age progression, but we couldn’t get permission to use the dataset. It’s a shame, but that will be one of the areas that GANs will shine in for the future. Things like biomedical research could be one area that might really be helped by GANs. I hate to keep using this phrase, but the possibilities are unlimited. If you want to learn how to build, train, and optimize next-generation GAN models and use them to solve a variety of real-world problems, read Greg’s book ‘Hands-On Generative Adversarial Networks with PyTorch 1.x’. This book highlights all the key improvements in GANs over generative models and will help guide you to make the GANs with the help of hands-on examples. What are generative adversarial networks (GANs) and how do they work? [Video] Generative Adversarial Networks: Generate images using Keras GAN [Tutorial] What you need to know about Generative Adversarial Networks ICLR 2019 Highlights: Algorithmic fairness, AI for social good, climate change, protein structures, GAN magic, adversarial ML and much more Interpretation of Functional APIs in Deep Neural Networks by Rowel Atienza

A software architecture refers to the fundamental structure of a software system that serves as a blueprint to manage the system complexity. It is also used to maintain a coordination mechanism among the various components of the software. One of the popular combinations of tools that are used for building sustainable software architecture solutions are the general-purpose C# programming language and the open-source .NET Core computer software framework. This year, C# and .Net Core brought in some exciting features to help developers design a high-performance software system. To understand how C# and .Net Core aid in building software architecture systems, we interviewed Gabriel Baptista, one of the authors of the book ‘Hands-On Software Architecture with C# 8 and .NET Core 3’. Gabriel is a Software Architect, a specialist in Azure PaaS solutions and also the co-founder of a startup for developing mobile applications. According to Gabriel, the new features in C# 8 like async streams and nullable reference types are good to detect errors quickly and maintain the high quality of code programming respectively. When asked about the comparison between Visual Studio Code and Visual Studio for C# development, Gabriel insists that the productivity offered by Visual Studio is the best choice for C#. He is also of the opinion that Microsoft developed C# has a better roadmap than Java. On the applications of a microservice architecture and how .Net and C# enable code reusability In your book, ‘Hands-On Software Architecture with C# 8 and .NET Core 3’, you have demonstrated how microservice architecture can be applied to an enterprise application like microservice logging. Apart from the use cases in your book, what other applications can microservice architecture be used for? Microservices are being applied in a bunch of scenarios, due to the facilities they bring, like enabling different programming languages in different teams for the same enterprise App. Transversal aspects of software, like the Logging that we have as an example of the book, and Security, are quite simple to think about as microservices. However, the complexity increases when you think about functional requirements, like Customer Management, Logistics, or Inventory, this is a bit confusing. There is where Domain-Driven Design will help you with, since DDD is about the construction of a unique domain model, keeping the views as separate models. This is helpful because you will be able to create a domain characterized by the language spoken by the experts, that is what we call the Bounded Context Principle of DDD. Now, think about each of these domains as a microservice. This will surely facilitate your understanding of how to organize them. You can read Chapter 5 of my book to know how to apply a microservice architecture to your enterprise application. You also say in your book that code reusability is one of the most important features in Software Architecture. How does the .NET standard help in managing and maintaining a reusable library? Also, how does C# enable code reuse? Code reuse is for sure what differs the velocity of development between two great companies. The one that reuses more certainly is faster and more profit. .NET enables you to reuse code from many platforms by defining the .NET standard as the core of a class library. With .NET Standard, you can write a class library that runs in Windows, Linux and Android, for a Desktop App, a Mobile App, and Azure Function and a Web App! This is amazing! Besides, .NET itself has many opportunities for code reuse by giving us a dozen of already done classes due to its framework. To finish is good to remember that C# is an Object-Oriented Programming Language, which enables the principles of Abstraction, Polymorphism, Inheritance, and, Encapsulation, that are really useful for code reuse. Check out Chapter 11 of my book to learn how to create reusable libraries. One of the main tasks for a developer is to choose a suitable architecture that will provide the desired functionality to the software. With the many varieties of software architectural patterns available today, how should a user approach them and choose the best one? What aspects should they look at when comparing software architectures? When you need to choose a suitable architecture for a system, my first recommendation is to start the process with a specific goal – keep it simple. The more complex your architecture, the worse the path you are going to. If you stop and think a bit about the most complex solutions we have nowadays, you will find something in common and interesting in all of them. They are made by many small simpler parts. Thanks to the cloud and the bunch of APIs we have nowadays, you can design really simple solutions focused on your business. Gabriel’s views on the latest advancements in C# 8 In its latest release, C# 8 brings features like async streams, nullable reference types, and new indices/ranges. What were you most excited about in this release and why? How do you think C# 8 will help in improving the overall quality of the delivered software? I am almost sure that NullReferenceException is one of the main reasons why C# Apps crash. Then, when it comes to improving quality, for sure nullable reference types will help a lot since null reference exceptions are not detected in compilation time. With this feature, you will be able to get the errors at this point and the theory of software development says that the earlier you get a bug solved, the better and cheaper. Next, I believe that async programming is amazing to make your apps work more seamlessly since it mimics the behavior of classical synchronous code while keeping most of the performance advantages of general parallel programming. For this reason, async streams will be a good opportunity delivered, since we will be able to get the advantages of async programming in foreach loops, enabling a push-programming in this kind of loop. For instance, we will be able to program an asynchronous data pull that will not block the client. Entity Framework Core 3.0 and Entity Framework 6.3 are now generally available with C# 8. How do you think EF Core 3.0 and EF 6.3 can take advantage of the new features in C# 8? Well, the two features that I mostly enjoyed are the ones that EF Core and EF 6.3 have implemented too: nullable reference types and async streams. Reducing bugs for not having null type reference is always good! The possibilities given by async streams together with EF Core are great. So, with them, EF will be even more powerful. Another feature that it is good to know is that now they support the connection to Cosmos DB.  Read Chapter 6 of my book to understand the interactions of data in C# using Entity Framework Core. In your opinion, is C# a better programming language than Java? Which language do you think has a better future, C# or Java? As a software architect, you need to understand that the programming languages evolve. In other words, the programming language itself is not the most important part, whereas the fundamentals are the essence of the process of building systems. Considering this approach, I cannot say that one language is better than the other. The best programming language is the one that will give you the best result in the fastest time with the team you are working with. What I could say about C# and Java is that both were, are, and are going to be incredibly important to the evolution of humanity. Right now, I consider that the C# has a better roadmap than Java. The reason why I believe it is that Microsoft is always ahead of other companies when it comes to productivity. On why Visual Studio is the best option for C# development Why do most C# developers prefer Visual Studio? Can you elaborate on how VSCode differs from the other source code editors? How difficult is it to develop C# applications using Visual Studio Code? To me, Visual Studio is the most powerful development environment we have for programming nowadays. You can write code on so many platforms and for so many different solutions with incredible debugging environment, connectivity to the cloud and facility to manage your code whatever Version Control System you decide to use. With Visual Studio you have the opportunity to start any project related to C# and even more, it gives you the possibility to debug your different projects in many ways. For instance, debugging Threads or Windows Services is not easy, but with VS we find different ways to do so, which at the end causes an acceleration of development. The best answer that I always give to someone who asks me why Visual Studio is productivity. I really don’t think C# developers prefer Visual Studio Code. VS Code is really useful if you are running a different OS than Windows or if your writing code in other programming languages like NodeJS. However, when it comes to C# development, for sure Visual Studio is more powerful. Gabriel on learning curves and best practices for beginners You are a Software Architect with experience working in diverse projects for retail and industry. How much does the role differ between industries and sectors? How does the learning curve look like for beginners to become an expert in building enterprise applications with the .NET Stack? The role itself does not change due to the different sectors. Time-to-market, performance, security, reliability, and quality are requirements that will be asked for any customer you have, no matter the size they are, no matter the sector they work for. The learning curve starts by understanding the principles of .NET and C#, that means, the Object-Oriented Principles. Any developer needs to understand the process of creating software and software engineering will give them this background. To finish, I am totally sure that a person who wants to be in the development world of the 21st century needs to understand Cloud Computing, especially PaaS – Platform as a Service. And in this world, Azure is the best one for giving the results the sectors need. Can you suggest some best practices that every developer should follow for a safe and maintainable code in C#? Yes, developers should be vigilant about the following: Never leave a catch statement blank. Do not write big methods. Methods need to have a single responsibility. Every time you are not sure if there is an already done class for the code you are working to, first try to find it. Chances are that you already have this done. No matter the number of developers you have in your team, even if your team is only you, do write code the simpler you can. Threads are great if you really know what you’re doing. So before implementing them, study the topic a lot. If you want to develop highly scalable enterprise-ready apps that meet customers’ business needs, read Gabriel’s book ‘Hands-On Software Architecture with C# 8 and .NET Core 3’. This software architecture book will give you a hands-on approach to learn various architectural methods that will help you deliver high-quality products. About the Author Gabriel Baptista is a Software Architect in the R&D department of Toledo do Brasil. He leads a team who delivers weighting solutions software to retail and industry customers. Gabriel is a specialist in Azure PaaS solutions. He is also a Professor at Salvador Arena Foundation Educational Center in their Computing Engineering College Course, where he is responsible for the disciplines of Programming Language and Software Architecture. You can find him on Linkedin. You can now use WebAssembly from .NET with Wasmtime! Exploring .Net Core 3.0 components with Mark J. Price, a Microsoft specialist Microsoft announces .NET Jupyter Notebooks .NET Core 3.0 is now available with C# 8, F# 4.7, ASP.NET Core 3.0 and general availability of EF Core 3.0 and EF 6.3 Introducing ‘ixy’, a simple user-space network driver written in high-level languages like Rust, Go, and C#, among others

Security is an important aspect for organizations and securing the devices that contain confidential data--personal or professional, is absolutely essential. Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security, an intelligent mobility management and security platform, offers a suite of services that helps in securing employee devices; thus, protecting and securing the organization. Our recent chat with Nate Chamberlain, a Business Analyst at DH Pace, Kansas, helped us understand more about the Microsoft 365 Enterprise Mobility + Security suite. Nate is also a Microsoft MVP in Office apps and services. His recently published book Microsoft 365 Mobility and Security – Exam Guide MS-101, helps users to plan, deploy, and manage Microsoft Office 365 services and gain the skills required to pass the MS-101 exam. In this interview, Nate also shares his favorite services from the suite, the importance of using Shadow IT in a controlled manner while ensuring security Cloud Apps, how the M365 Certified Enterprise Administrator Expert certification has helped him give a career boost, and much more. On the Microsoft Enterprise Mobility and Security suite Microsoft Enterprise Mobility and Security suite help professionals secure devices used within the enterprise and also helps in identifying breaches before they cause any major damage. The suite provides two offerings, Enterprise Mobility + Security E3 and E5. Talking about the popular Microsoft solutions in the suite, Nate said, “Azure Active Directory, Intune, and the Microsoft 365 Security & Compliance Center are big players in the overall EM+S suite. Taking the time to get to know each of them has the potential to significantly enhance your organization’s security.” Nate said one of his favorite features from the Microsoft 365 Enterprise Mobility + Security suite is, “the ability to be extremely granular in building conditional access policies. That, paired with the ability to utilize AI and zero-day security information in policies and practices, continually impresses me. It’ll be interesting to see where Endpoint Manager takes us.” On the topic of what features he would like to add in the suite in the future, he said, “the biggest improvement I would hope for currently is licensing simplification, and making sure admins are able to secure their organization and its users without breaking the budget.” On the new Microsoft Endpoint Manager and using ‘Shadow IT’ for Cloud App security Last month, Microsoft announced its new Endpoint Manager, a convergence of two of its popular tools, System Center Configuration Manager (ConfigMgr) and Microsoft Intune. Both ConfigMgr and Intune offer integrated cloud-powered management tools, and unique co-management options to provision, deploy, manage, and secure endpoints and applications across an organization. The Endpoint Manager offers end-to-end management solutions without the need for worrying too much about the complexity involved during migration, thus helping customers in a smooth cloud transition. According to Nate, “Microsoft Endpoint Manager takes a lot of the licensing guesswork out of building a secure solution for your organization.”  In addition to Intune and ConfigMgr, Microsoft Endpoint Manager includes the Device Management Admin Center (DMAC) and Desktop Analytics. Nate further adds that Microsoft Endpoint Manager includes nearly everything discussed in his exam prep book, Microsoft 365 Mobility and Security – Exam Guide MS-101--including Intune and ConfigMgr. Shadow IT and cloud app security In his book, Nate has written about controlling the use of ‘Shadow IT’ for Cloud App security. Shadow IT, also known as Stealth IT, is built and used without the knowledge of the IT or security group within the organization. We asked Nate for what processes is Shadow IT built-in the organizations. We also asked why Shadow IT is a threat and how organizations can minimize its usage. Clearing the clouds on Shadow IT, Nate explains, “Shadow IT is often a consequence of being too restrictive without providing alternative means of productivity and collaboration solutions. And sometimes, even if you provide alternatives or company-licensed tools, it’s the lack of ongoing education that failed to spread awareness and competency that led users to more familiar, comfortable means of accomplishing goals. When users need to accomplish something, they’ll find a way with or without the organization’s assistance.” He further adds, “It’s IT administrators’ responsibility to make sure productivity and collaboration solutions are provisioned and configured for secure, appropriate usage, and that education is provided to get users on board.” A few key takeaways from Nate’s book, an MS-101 exam guide, and his recommendations for further Microsoft 365 certifications According to Microsoft’s official website, the “Exam MS-101: Microsoft 365 Mobility and Security”, the skills measured in the exam includes, implementing modern device services, implementing Microsoft 365 security and threat management, and managing Microsoft 365 governance and compliance. These skills would help companies sieve through all the candidates among others who don’t know much about the suite. Talking about the key takeaways from his book, Nate says, “I hope readers find the content to be challenging, but accessible. The best takeaway I could hope for is that readers retain information that not only helps them in the exam but in their jobs. The whole point of taking exams and obtaining certifications is to demonstrate proficiency, knowledge, and skill. Ultimately, it’s practising those skills in the real world that matter - not the score on the exam. But the exam is absolutely a first step toward building confidence and career growth.” We also asked him what other certifications he would recommend next, to which Nate said, “Once readers pass MS-101, they should aim for passing MS-100 if they haven’t already. After that, they’re just one prerequisite certification away from becoming a Microsoft 365 Enterprise Administrator Expert.” On Nate’s journey as a Microsoft SharePoint Systems Engineer and beyond Nate worked as a SharePoint Systems Engineer at LMH Health, Kansas, and is currently a Business Analyst at DH Pace in Olathe, KS. He is also an M365 Certified Enterprise Administrator Expert. He shared why certifications are important for career growth. He says, “My certification certainly looks great on my resume to potential employers and I like to think it’s part of what made me competitive in pursuing my current role. Certifications are verified proof of skill and competency. It alleviates some risk a company would otherwise assume in hiring someone for highly technical work like we find in our industry.” He also shared about his journey and how learning SharePoint transformed his role. “My journey has been one of self-teaching, fueled by inspiring tech solutions coming out of Microsoft. I was once tasked to learn what I can about SharePoint, at the University of Kansas, and it turned into a SharePoint-specific role there. That opened doors for me which brought me to LMH Health and ultimately DH Pace.” He continues, “Somewhere along the way, I started sharing what I was learning via my blog, NateChamberlain.com, and by speaking at conferences around the country regularly. I also started a SharePoint user group, LSPUG, in Lawrence, KS. For these reasons and perhaps others, I was awarded the Microsoft MVP for Office Apps and Services.” Certifications are indeed verified proof of skill and competency. So go ahead and check out Nate’s book, Microsoft 365 Mobility and Security – Exam Guide MS-101, to get up to speed with planning, deploying, and managing Microsoft Office 365 services and gain the skills you need to pass the MS-101 exam. With this book, you’ll explore everything from mobile device management and compliance, through to data governance and auditing. By the end of this book, you’ll have learned to work with Microsoft 365 services and covered the concepts and techniques you need to know to pass the MS-101 exam. Written in a succinct way, you’ll explore chapter-wise self-assessment questions, exam tips and mock exams with answers. Microsoft technology evangelist Matthew Weston on how Microsoft PowerApps is democratizing app development [Interview] How PyTorch is bridging the gap between research and production at Facebook: PyTorch team at F8 conference SOLIDWORKS specialist Tayseer Almattar takes us into the world of 3D modeling using SOLIDWORKS 2020 [Interview]

Serverless computing is a growing trend that lets software developers focus more on code than the back-end processes. While there are a lot of serverless computing platforms, in this article we will focus on Microsoft’s Azure serverless computing platform, which provides its users with  fully managed, end-to-end Azure serverless solutions to boost developer productivity, optimise resources and expedite the development processes. To understand the nitty-gritties of Azure Serverless, we got in touch with Lorenzo Barbieri, a cloud-native application specialist who works at Microsoft’s One Commercial Partner Technical Organization and, Massimo Bonanni, an Azure Technical trainer at Microsoft. In their recently published book, Mastering Azure Serverless Computing, they explain how developers with Microsoft’s Azure Serverless platform can build scalable systems and also deploy serverless applications with Azure Functions. Sharing their thoughts about Azure serverless and its security the authors said that although security is one of the most important topics while designing a complex solution, security depends both on the cloud infrastructure as well as the code. They further shared how Powershell in Azure Functions allows you to combine the best language for automation with one of the best services. Sharing their experiences working at Microsoft, they also talked about how their recently published book will help developers master various processes in Azure serverless. On how Microsoft ensures complete security within the Serverless Computing process Every architecture should guarantee a secure environment for the user. Also, the security of any Serverless functions depends on the cloud provider's infrastructure, which may or may not be secure. What are the certain security checks that Microsoft ensures for complete security within the Serverless Computing processes? Lorenzo: Security of Serverless functions depends both on the cloud provider’s infrastructure and the application code. For example,  SQL Injections depends on how the application code is written; you should check all the inputs (depending on the trigger) to avoid these types of attacks. Many other types of attacks depend on application code and third party dependencies. On its side, Microsoft is responsible for managing and patching servers and application frameworks, and keeps them updated when security updates are released. .” Massimo: Security is one of the most important topics when you design a complex solution, and in particular, when it will run on a cloud provider. You must think about it from the beginning of your design. Azure provides a series of ot-of-the-box services to ensure the security of the solutions that you deploy on it. For example, Azure DDoS Protection Service is an Azure service you have for free on every solution you deploy, and especially if you are developing Azure Functions triggered by HTTP trigger. On the other hand, you must guarantee that your code is safe and that your third party dependencies are secure too. If one of the actors of your solution chain is unsafe, all your solution becomes potentially not secure. On general availability of PowerShell in Azure Functions V2 The Microsoft team recently announced the general availability of PowerShell in Azure Functions V2. Azure Functions is known for its speed and PowerShell for its automation; how will this feature enhance serverless computing on Azure Cloud? What benefits can users or organizations expect with this feature? What does this mean for Azure developers? Lorenzo: GA of PowerShell in Azure Functions is a great news for cloud administrators and developers that can use them connected for example with Azure Monitor alerts, to create custom auto-scale rules or to implement mitigation for problems that could arise. Massimo: Serverless architecture gives its best for event-driven solutions. Automation in Azure is, generally, driven by events generated by the platform. For example, you have to do something when someone creates a storage, or you have to execute a task every hour. Using Powershell in an azure function allows you to combine the best language for automation with one of the best services to react to events. On why developers should prefer Azure Serverless computing Can you tell us some of the pre-requisites expected before reading your book? How does your book prepare its readers to master Azure Serverless Computing and to be industry ready? Lorenzo: A working knowledge of .NET or other programming languages is expected, together with basic understanding of Cloud architectures. For Chapter 7 [Serverless and Containers], basic knowledge of containers and Kubernetes is expected. The book covers all the advanced features of Azure Serverless Computing, not only Azure Functions. After reading the book, one can decide which technology to use. Massimo: The book supposes that you have a basic knowledge of programming language (e.g. C# or Node.js) and a basic knowledge of Cloud topics and architecture. Moreover, for some chapters (e.g., Chapter 7), you need some other knowledge like containers and Kubernetes. In your book, ‘Mastering Azure Serverless Computing’, you have said that Containers and Orchestrators are the main competitors of Serverless in terms of Architecture. What makes Serverless architecture better than the other two? How does one decide while migrating from a monolith, which architecture to adopt? What are some real-world success stories of serverless migration? Lorenzo: In Chapter 7 we’ve seen that it’s possible to create Containers and run them inside Azure Functions, and that’s also possible to run Azure Functions inside Kubernetes, AKS or OpenShift together with KEDA. The two worlds are not mutually exclusive, but most of the times you choose one route or another. Which one you should use? Serverless is more productive, it’s really easy to scale and it’s better suited for event-driven architectures. With Orchestrators like Kubernetes you can customize every aspect of your infrastructure, you can create complex service connections and dependencies, and you can deploy them everywhere. Stylelabs, a leading Belgium/US-based marketing software company, successfully integrated Azure Functions into its cloud architecture to benefit from serverless in addition to traditional solutions like VMs and App Services. Massimo: I think that there isn't a better tool to implement something. As I always say during my technical sessions (even if I seem repetitive and boring), when you choose an architecture (e.g. microservices or serverless), you choose it because that architecture meets the requirements of the solution you are designing. If you choose an architecture because it is popular or "fashionable", you are making a serious mistake that you will pay when your solution will be deployed. In particular, Microservice architecture (that you can implement using Container and Orchestrator) and Serverless architecture meet different requirements (e.g. Serverless is the best solution when you need an event-driven architecture while one of the most important characteristics of the microservices architecture is high availability and orchestration), so I think they can be used together. A few highlights of Microsoft Azure Functions What are the top 5 highlights of Azure Functions that make it a go-to serverless platform for newbies and professionals? Massimo: For the Azure Functions, the five best features are, in my opinion: Support for a number of programming languages and also has the possibility to support any other programming languages, which are not currently available; Extensibility of triggers and bindings to support your custom data sources; Availability of a number of tools available to implement Azure Functions (Visual Studio, Visual Studio Code, Azure Functions Tools, etc., etc.); Use of the open-source approach for runtime and tools; Capability to easily use Azure Functions with other Azure services such as Event Grid or Azure Key Vault. Lorenzo and Massimo on their personal experiences working with Microsoft Azure services Lorenzo, you have a specialization in Cloud Native Applications and Application Modernization. Can you share your experience and the challenges you faced with the Cloud-native learning curve? You have also been using Azure Functions since the first previews. How has it grown from the first preview? In the beginning it was difficult. Azure includes many services and it’s growing even faster. In the beginning, I simply tried to understand the big picture of the services and their relationship. Then I started going deeper in the services that I needed to use. I’m thankful to many highly skilled colleagues, who started this journey before me. I can say that two years of working with Azure and the experience you gain is the minimum time to master the parts that you need. Speaking of Azure Functions, the first preview was interesting, but limited. Azure Functions v2 and the upcoming v3 are great platforms, both in terms of features and in terms of scalability, and configuration. Massimo, you are an Azure Technical Trainer at Microsoft, can you share with us your journey with Microsoft. What were the projects you enjoyed being involved in? Where do you see microservice and serverless architecture in the next five years? During my career, I have always worked with Microsoft technologies and have always wanted to be a Microsoft employee. For several years I was a Microsoft MVP, and, finally, three years ago, I was hired. Initially, I worked for the business unit that provides consulting to customers and partners for implementing solutions (not only Cloud oriented). In almost three years of consulting, I worked on various projects for different customers and partners with different Azure technologies, specially Microservice architecture, and during the last year, serverless. I think that these two architectures will be the most important in the next years specially for enterprise solutions. When you are a consultant, you are involved in a lot of projects, and every project has its peculiarity and its problems to solve, and it isn't simple to remember all of them. The most important thing that I learned during these years, is that those who design solutions for the Cloud must be like a Chef: you can use different ingredients (the various services offered by the Cloud) but must mix them in the right way to get the right recipe. Since three months, I am an Azure Technical Trainer, and I help our customers to better understand Azure services and use the right one in their solutions. About the Authors Lorenzo Barbieri Lorenzo Barbieri works for Microsoft, in the One Commercial Partner Technical Organization, helping partners, developers, communities, and customers across Western Europe, supporting software development on Microsoft and OSS technologies. He specializes in cloud-native applications and application modernization on Azure and Office 365, Windows and cross-platform applications, Visual Studio, and DevOps, and likes to talk with people and communities about technology, food, and funny things. He is also a speaker, trainer, and a public speaking coach and has helped many students, developers, and other professionals, as well as many of his colleagues, to improve their stage presence with a view to delivering exceptional presentations. Massimo Bonanni Massimo Bonanni is an Azure technical trainer in Microsoft and his goal is to help customers utilize their Azure skills to achieve more and leverage the power of Azure in their solutions. He specializes in cloud application development and, in particular, in Azure compute technologies. Over the last 3 years, he has worked with important Italian and European customers to implement distributed applications using Service Fabric and microservices architecture. Massimo is also a technical speaker at national and international conferences, a Microsoft Certified Trainer, a former MVP (for 6 years in Visual Studio and Development Technologies and Windows Development), an Intel Software Innovator, and an Intel Black Belt. About the book Mastering Azure Serverless Computing will guide you through using Microsoft's Azure Functions to process data, integrate systems, and build simple APIs and microservices. You will also discover how to apply serverless computing to speed up deployment and reduce downtime. You'll also explore Azure Functions, including its core functionalities and essential tools, along with understanding how to debug and even customize Azure Functions. “Microservices require a high-level vision to shape the direction of the system in the long term,” says Jaime Buelta Glen Singh on why Kali Linux is an arsenal for any cybersecurity professional [Interview] Why become an advanced Salesforce administrator: Enrico Murru, Salesforce MVP, Solution and Technical Architect [Interview]

Change might feel like a natural part of working in the software industry. But in truth it's not natural at all; it takes a hell of a lot of effort to do things differently. That's what software developers Shelby Cohen and Katie Levy found out when they decided that Kotlin could be a better programming language option when it came to their company's engineering team. As two relatively junior developers at financial software provider Intuit, Shelby and Katie didn't only have to take on the challenge of building out training programs and providing resources to thousands of developers across Intuit, they also had to negotiate internal hierarchies and politics that can prove resistant to change. To learn more about what this process was like, as well as why they're so passionate about Kotlin, I spoke to them over email. Visit the Packt store to explore Kotlin eBooks and videos. How did you get started in software engineering? Shelby Cohen: I’ve always been interested in solving problems and engaging with new challenges. In high school I really enjoyed math and one of my math teachers encouraged me to join the High School Robotics Club. It was all men and I didn’t feel like I fit in. With the help and encouragement of my teacher I helped start the Women Robotics Club at my high school. This is where I was exposed to programming for the first time and that inspired me to study computer science in college. During my junior year, I learned about Intuit’s co-op program at a hackathon and thought it was a great opportunity. I then travelled from New York to San Diego to spend a semester working at Intuit. I learned so much and was exposed to a lot of mentorship opportunities which led to me accepting a full time position as a Software Engineer I in 2017. Intuit really values teaching their employees and helping them continue to grow and develop so it felt like a natural fit. Why Kotlin? What’s unique about Kotlin? Katie Levy: Kotlin is an open source, cross-platform programming language, designed to interoperate with Java. What’s nice about it is that it allows for an easy transition to start using a functional programming style while also being safer and more concise than Java code. Kotlin is unique because it is very clean, simple, clear and removes a lot of the redundant, boilerplate code that’s in Java which allows the developer to focus on the business logic. It’s my favorite language to program in as I can write high quality code faster by using its built-in language features. It can be used on any application running on the JVM, including Spring boot backend services, Android apps, and even JavaScript applications. How/where did you learn about it? Was it an immediate thing or did it take time for you to decide to do this? Shelby: I volunteered at KotlinConf back in 2018, and it was such a great opportunity to meet a lot of the engineers and staff from Jetbrains. I got to meet a senior executive at Jetbrains and shared some of the projects I was working on at Intuit. He asked to be a guest on his podcast, TalkingKotlin, and through this conference I got to know some of the most influential people in the Kotlin community. How did people respond? Were they resistant to something new? Katie: My team was definitely hesitant to start learning the language. One of the engineers on my team was especially resistant and tried to identify flaws in the language, using anything he could come up with as a reason why we shouldn’t use Kotlin. In those cases it’s important to identify the real issue the engineers are having with the new language — is it the language itself or is it something else? With that particular engineer, I found out that he was feeling like he didn’t have the bandwidth to take on the work he was being assigned. To combat this, I created a training program for the team so we could learn together, build up the team’s domain knowledge on the language, and so everyone’s workload was more visible. How did you go about driving adoption? Katie: Influencing and driving change is a hard project to scope. It can mean many different things to different people. For us, when we were starting out, we wanted to introduce 500 engineers to Kotlin, and wanted 90% of them to start coding in Kotlin. We ended up exceeding our goal, reaching 370 engineers internal to Intuit and 4,329 external to Intuit. We want to improve the industry by encouraging engineers to develop in a more concise and less error-prone language. More recently, we were able to present on Kotlin to over 500 software engineers at LambdaWorld in Spain. Afterward, we had engineers wanting to take pictures with us and all saying they want to start using the language. We found that speaking at conferences helped us meet our goals, and scale our efforts. What were the challenges? Shelby: In addition to some of the initial resistance, one of the biggest challenges is the internal hierarchy. When I introduced Kotlin to my team, a lot of engineers were more senior than me and at the time, I wasn’t confident about the value that I was bringing to the team. I implemented group code reviews, sent out resources, and walked the team through examples as they were learning Kotlin. Once the team had a good foundation for Kotlin, I implemented a flatter teaching structure and encouraged everyone to learn and teach each other a specific part of the language. This was really effective because everyone learns from different teaching styles and team members felt more empowered in their work. Have you learned anything else about Kotlin throughout the process? And about engineering in general? Shelby: One of the most valuable things I learned from this experience is don’t be afraid to ask for advice on how to influence at scale and connect with others who have driven change at your company. This way you can learn from other’s experiences. Katie and I reached out to a lot of leaders making an impact in their area of expertise to learn from them and get feedback and advice on our journey. This is something we will continue to do as we keep learning and facing other challenging problems. Thanks to Shelby and Katie for talking to us - it's clear they have a lot of passion for Kotlin, but more importantly they also have a great sense of how to engage and support other developers. Follow Shelby on Twitter: @shelbyc0hen Follow Katie on Twitter: @klevy110

Kali Linux is a popular term for anyone related to computer security. It is the most renowned tool for advanced Penetration Testing, Ethical Hacking and network security assessments.  To know more about Kali Linux more closely, we recently had a quick chat with Glen D. Singh, a cyber security instructor and an Infosec author with Learn Kali Linux 2019 being his latest book. In his book, Glen explains how Kali Linux can be used to detect vulnerabilities and secure your system by applying penetration testing techniques of varying complexity. Talking to us about Kali Linux, Glen said that the inclusion of 300 pre-installed tools makes Kali Linux an arsenal for any cybersecurity professional. In addition to talking about certification options for both novice and experienced cybersecurity professionals, Glen also shared his favorite features from the latest Kali Linux version 2019.3 among other things in this deeply informative discussion. On why the cybersecurity community loves Kali Linux and what’s new in Kali Linux 2019.3 What makes Kali Linux one of the most popular tools for penetration testing as well as for digital forensics? The Kali Linux operating system has over 300 pre-installed tools for both penetration testing and digital forensics engagements, making its single operating system an arsenal for any cybersecurity professional.  The developers of Kali Linux are continuously working to create rolling updates, new features and new upgrades to the existing operating system. Today, you can even deploy Kali Linux on various cloud platforms such as Microsoft Azure, Amazon AWS and Digital Ocean. This allows you to create a beast of a machine with any scale of computing resources, while allowing you access from anywhere. Furthermore, being a Linux-based operating system is one of the best things that makes Kali Linux popular. This is because Linux is a very powerful operating system with already built-in security, rolling updates, and security fixes, and is very light on computing resources as compared to other operating systems. Kali Linux can even be installed on a Raspberry Pi, making it a custom network implant device. Finally, what I love about Kali Linux is the fact that you can create a live USB with multiple persistence stores and apply the Linux Unified Key Setup (LUKS) Encryption Nuke, providing the options to wipe the stores using a Nuke password. What are the features that excited you in the latest Kali Linux version, 2019.3, and why? According to you, how will these additions help Kali Linux grow as a community and for individuals using it? One feature I’m definitely excited about in Kali Linux 2019.3 is the support for LXD Container Image. This feature will allow you to experience virtual machines on Kali Linux but instead of using a hypervisor, you’ll be using Linux containers instead. This provides some major benefits such as easy to scale containers, support for networking and storage management with security. Kali Linux 2019.3 has support for the new Raspberry Pi 4, which has an improved CPU and faster memory as compared to its predecessor. With the new upgrades to Kali Linux 2019.3, the pentesting operating system can take advantage of the 64-bit CPU on the new Raspberry Pi 4, thus maximizing the computing power in the tiny ARM device.  Definitely I can see cybersecurity enthusiasts having a lot more fun creating Linux-based containers in their Kali Linux 2019.3 version. Many will be excited to purchase a credit-sized computer, the Raspberry Pi, 4 for setting network implants and remote access configurations that are ready to be deployed. Glen’s journey in the cybersecurity sector and a few certification recommendations for a career upgrade Tell us about your evolution in cybersecurity. As a teenager, I was always fascinated by computers and how technologies work together. Upon completing my secondary level education, I began to pursue my first IT certification, this was CompTIA A+. During this certification, I was introduced to computer security and this had caught my attention a bit more than other topics. Later on, I pursued the CompTIA Network+ certification and this where network security caught my attention. Of course, I’m sure you can guess the next course of pursuit, the CompTIA Security+. This certification was the one which helped me realize my love for IT Security was growing and this is what I want to pursue as a career. After completing my studies in CompTIA Security+, I realized that I had to make a big decision in choosing the specialization. The decision was a bit tough at the time, I decided to enroll for the Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) programme. This was it for me, my first major certification in IT, my love for cybersecurity grew even more as I wanted to specialize in offensive security tactics next.  There onwards, I have continued to harness my skills in discovering vulnerabilities and learning about new hacking techniques. I had often wondered to myself at the time - If I can hack, surely there must be methods a digital forensics professional can use to find the malicious user. I decided to pursue the Computer Hacking Forensics Investigator (CHFI) certification as a natural progression in my journey to understand everything there is about cybersecurity. This has taught many things about operating systems, network and email forensics and so on.  Additionally, I did a couple of firewall certifications and training such as CCNA Security, Check Point CCSA and Fortinet as I wanted to learn more about how firewalls operate to protect organizations and improve network security. During this time, I was working in an administrative position, however my certifications allowed me to gain employment within the IT industry as a security professional at various companies. However, growth was a bit challenging in some of my past positions while my pursuit to continuously expand my knowledge was growing. Eventually, I began lecturing Cisco certification programmes and gradually took over cybersecurity certifications and training programmes at various institutions. This opportunity allowed me to grow a lot while working with others, develop secure network designs and strategies, develop training programmes, train persons in both private and public sectors ranging from ISPs to government agencies in the field of cybersecurity.  In 2018, Packt Publishing had reached out to me to be a Technical Reviewer for the book, Penetration Testing with Shellcode. After this project was completed, Packt had reached out once again in the same year, this time to be the Lead Author for the CCNA Security 210-260 Certification Guide and before 2018 was completed, I had my second book CompTIA Network+ Certification Guide published. In early 2019, my third title Hands-On Penetration Testing with Kali NetHunter was also published. Finally, in November 2019, my fourth book Learn Kali Linux 2019 is now published.  Currently, I work as a Cybersecurity Instructor delivering training in offensive security, network security and enterprise networking. Additionally, I share my knowledge and guidance with others through various social media platforms, provide mentoring for anyone in the community within ICT, occasionally delivering speeches on cybersecurity awareness.  Following my dreams is what has led me to my career in cybersecurity, where I can help so many people in a lot of different ways, to secure their organizations or even safeguard their families from cyber-attacks and threats. I honestly love what I do, so I don't see it as “work” but my passion. Given the pace of change in tech and evolving threats, what role do certifications play, if any? What must-have certifications do you recommend for those starting their cybersecurity career and for those looking for a career boost?  Certifications will always play a vital role in the cybersecurity industry in both the present and future as technologies and threats evolve. Being a certified professional in the industry’s latest certifications helps with growth in your career. It also proves you have the necessary skills required for a job role and helps you specialize in technologies making you stand out from the rest of the crowd. Whether you’re starting a career in cybersecurity or simply looking for a career boost, there are some must-have certifications I would definitely recommend. If you’re new to the field of cybersecurity I would personally recommend starting with a networking certification such as Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) as it will help you develop a solid foundation in understanding the functions of networking components and protocols, composition of network traffic as it’s passed along multiple networks, and how devices are interconnected and communicate. Networking knowledge will help you understand how cyber-attacks are delivered through the internet and corporate networks. Secondly, I would recommend both the Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) certification from EC-Council and Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP) certification from Offensive Security. The CEH contains a lot of valuable information and will help you get through the doors of Human Resource (HR) and various national security agencies, however the OSCP is currently in higher demand in the cybersecurity industry due to its intensive hands-on training and practical testing, thus simulating a real-world penetration test. Additionally, if finances are a bit challenging in one’s life, take a look at the Junior Penetration Tester (eJPT) and the Certified Professional Penetration Tester v2 (eCPPTv2) from eLearnSecurity. Before choosing a cybersecurity certification to enroll, take a thorough look at the module each certification has to offer and ensure each new certification you decide to pursue either teaches you something new or expands your existing knowledge and skill-set as a professional. Last by not least, learn some Linux. On navigating the cybersecurity landscape by Learning Kali Linux How does your book, Learn Kali Linux 2019, help readers navigate the cybersecurity landscape in 2019? Are there any prerequisites? What are the top 5 key takeaways from your book? As each day goes by, new threats emerge while most are undetectable for long periods of time. My book, Learn Kali Linux 2019 is designed not only to teach you the role of being a penetration tester but also to help develop your mindset to be strategic when searching for security vulnerabilities that a hacker can exploit.  There are no formal prerequisites for this book, however, for anyone who is interested in pursuing their studies or a career in the cybersecurity industry, I would definitely recommend having a solid foundation in networking.  The top 5 key takeaways from my book are: Learn how to perform penetration testing starting from scratch while gradually moving on to intermediate and advanced topics while maintaining a student-centric approach for all learners. Upon completing this book, you will also gain essential skills in learning and understanding the Linux operating system. You will learn how to perform various stages of penetration testing using a very practical and real-world approach. Beginning a career in cybersecurity, you will learn how to design and build your very own penetration testing virtual lab environment, where you can sharpen your hacking skills safely. On completing this book, you will have the essential hands-on experience and knowledge to start a career in the field of cybersecurity. On Kali Linux’s future scope and applications   Recently, Kali Linux has been made available for the compact computer board, Raspberry Pi 4. How do you see Kali Linux’s evolution over time? Is IoT the new frontier for cybersecurity professionals and hackers alike? Where else do you see Kali Linux adapting to in the coming years?  Since its initial release in 2012, the Kali Linux operating system has had a lot of major upgrades, thus creating an awesome operating system simply built for penetration testing and security auditing for the IT professional. Currently, Kali Linux can be installed on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets by using the Kali Nethunter edition and even installed on micro-computing devices with ARM processors such as the Raspberry Pi 4. Definitely, over the coming years, I can foresee that newer editions of Kali Linux will be supported on next-generation computing devices. The rise of IoT devices and networks, also brings about security concerns to both the home and corporate users. Imagine there are hundreds and thousands of IoT devices out there that are connected to the internet but they do not have any form of cyber protection. Imagine the possibilities of a hacker exploiting a security weakness on a medical device, or even a smart security system for homes, the hacker can monitor a person’s actions and much more. IoT can both make our lives easier but at the same time, open new doorways to cyber criminals. Definitely as time goes by, Kali Linux will continuously evolve and improve to fit the need for any cybersecurity professional.  In the coming updates, what additional features do you wish to see in Kali Linux? In the upcoming updates, I really wish to see better support and improvements for the Kali Nethunter edition for both current and future devices. Nethunter allows a cybersecurity professional to perform penetration testing tasks using their Android-based smartphone or tablet. Having Nethunter available on a pocket device provides the convenience when you are on-the-go. About the Author Glen D. Singh is a cyber-security instructor, consultant, entrepreneur and public speaker. He has been conducting multiple training exercises in offensive security, digital forensics, network security, enterprise networking and IT service management annually.  He also holds various information security certifications, such as the EC-Council's Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator (CHFI), Cisco's CCNA Security, CCNA Routing and Switching, and many others in the field of network security. Glen has been recognized for his passion and expertise by both the private and public sector organizations of Trinidad and Tobago and internationally. About the Book Simply upgrade your Kali Linux whereabouts with Learn Kali Linux 2019, which will help you understand how important it has become to pentest your environment, to ensure endpoint protection.  This book will take you through the latest version of Kali Linux to efficiently deal with various crucial security aspects such as confidentiality, integrity, access control and authentication. Kali Linux 2019.1 released with support for Metasploit 5.0 Implementing Web application vulnerability scanners with Kali Linux [Tutorial] Kali Linux 2018 for testing and maintaining Windows security – Wolf Halton and Bo Weaver [Interview]

As per a recent IDC study, the forecast for new jobs demanding Salesforce skills shows a huge surge from last year. The numbers reveal that the demand is set to create 3.3 million jobs in the Salesforce ecosystem by 2022.  Additionally, among Indeed’s top 10 best jobs include Salesforce-specific, Salesforce Administrator ranking 4th and Salesforce Developer ranking at 6th place. Though Salesforce admins are not developers, but they create easy-to-use dashboards, intelligent workflows and applications for any project. They keep the Salesforce users happy and business processes smart, hence they are high in demand. Companies, especially in the US, know the potential and value Salesforce admins bring and are making serious human capital investments. We recently interviewed, Enrico Murru, a Solution and Technical Architect, a platinum Salesforce partner and Salesforce MVP to discuss the Salesforce ecosystem, his Salesforce expert journey, various certifications for Salesforce admins, and how they enhance their careers. Enrico is the author of the latest edition of our book, Salesforce Advanced Administrator Guide. This guide extends beyond being an administrator certification and covers advanced platform features and functions such as configuration, automation, security, and customization. It is packed with exam-oriented questions and mock tests to help you earn advanced administrator credentials. On the Salesforce ecosystem and Enrico’s journey to becoming a Salesforce MVP As per a recent 10K Advisors research, the Salesforce ecosystem is innovating faster than the talent can keep pace. This has resulted in great career opportunities but also introduced challenges for Salesforce end-users. How is Salesforce dealing with the challenges? How can administrators and developers leverage growth opportunities in Salesforce? When I started working with Salesforce about 10 years ago, I had never heard about the Salesforce ecosystem in my life: honestly Italy was not a hot market at that time, that’s why my (small at the time) company had a chance to work with big customers...we were among the few Salesforce system integrators in our whole country, after all. About 4 to 5 years ago things changed dramatically and Italy finally aligned with the rest of the world: Salesforce was in high demand among all kinds of companies (small or huge, no difference). The Italian market is one of the fastest growing; we started growing more and more due to increasing number of customers joining us but we started suffering from lack of professionals. We built an internal academy but it wasn’t enough, we still needed (and currently need) more developers, administrators and business analysts, the demand has exceeded the supply! The amount of “free to access documentation” is huge, the Salesforce Ohana has produced tons of content with blogs, webinars and tens of books. When Salesforce delivered Trailhead to the world we all had a boost in training: learning Salesforce became ever easier! No surprise the number of people getting certified has increased drastically, and it’s not uncommon now to see people with 5, 10 or 20 certifications on their career backpack: you don’t need to stay hours and hours with your head in a book, now you can learn 15 minutes a time when you are free between your working tasks. This is a HUGE revolution: learn a bit often and you keep yourself always on the trail, for free! From now on, anyone can become a Salesforce trailblazer and start building their trail: a lot of people have decided to change jobs and dipped into the Salesforce world with few to no experience in computer science. However when it’s time to get a certification, especially when it is your first certification, Trailhead is not enough: you need some real-world experience (no Trailhead can prepare you enough, experience is an amazing fuel for increasing your overall knowledge). A book can be a good compromise to boost your knowledge while giving you the right amount of experience that the author melt on each topic, and that’s why I chose to start this amazing trail with Packt: I wanted to do something I’ve never done before (writing a book) while delivering then Ohana more chances to pass a certification...I guess this is a win-win situation! How did you start your journey of becoming a Salesforce expert? Did being a Java developer, help you in some way? What motivated you to make the choice? Good question and the answer is that I have to thank the randomness that we can encounter daily on our lives (we can call it destiny, if you prefer). I started working as a Java developer (I came from an Electronic Engineering MSc) for a small company in my local town (Cagliari, Italy). After a while I got bored of what I was doing (boredom is a fuel for me) then I decided to move to Ireland. I got immediately the day after I landed in Cork a new job with a great income (compared to what I was earning in Italy)...but I was not 100% sure if I wanted to move abroad and that’s why I rejected that position and got back to Italy (some say it was an act of cowardice, I partially agree but I was not ready to change my life so much at that time). After just 2 months from my return home, my boss told me about a new opportunity: moving to northern Italy to join WebResults, a small company (we were just 15 people, including the CEO and CTO) that worked with something called “Salesforce”. I accepted the challenge and moved for 6 months with my spouse-to-be to WebResults headquarters: I discovered the world of Salesforce and I immediately fell in love with it. In a few weeks I learnt all that I needed to start my journey as a Salesforce developer. Years to come, I’m still working with WebResults (that in the meanwhile has been acquired by Engineering Spa, the greatest Italian consultant company) as a Salesforce Solution and Technical Architect (the amount of time I spend on coding at work has dramatically dropped unfortunately) and with the honorable Salesforce MVP title I try to evangelize my company and all the Salesforce Ohana buddies anyway I can! So if you ask me if my Java dev position helped me to arrive where I am, the answer is “definitely yes” but there is a lot more in the story! On various Salesforce certifications and why he wrote a book There are many certifications available for beginners as well as for experienced CRM developers. How should one go about choosing them? How do different Salesforce certification programs enhance a developer’s career? If you want to start your journey with Salesforce you have to choose primarily among the following paths (more details at https://trailhead.salesforce.com/credentials/administratoroverview, but you can build your own trail!): Administrator Developer Marketer Consultant Architect In my experience any aspiring Salesforce consultant should start from bases, even though she is a skilled business analysts with 20 years of experience: you need to know how the Salesforce Lightning Platform works and the best way is to get your hands dirty. Whether you wanna start as an administrator or a developer, I always recommend you face administrator skills at the beginning: a good developer should be a good administrator as well! As far as Marketer and Consultant paths are concerned, they are more related to your knowledge of specific products of the platform such as Marketing Cloud, Pardot, Field Service, Community Cloud, Einstein Analytics and many others. The Architect path brings you to the Mount Olympus of all certifications - the Technical Architect certification, which any Salesforce trailblazer aspire to get one day (and I’m one of them). Some think that owning a Salesforce certification doesn’t necessarily indicate your proficiency in the technologies involved but I do not agree with them. When I tried to get the Salesforce Advanced Administrator exam I really thought I had the required skills to pass but I failed...why? Because I didn’t study some of the topics and I wasn’t that skilled on such topics either (you’ll read this story in the book as well). That’s why I needed hours of study to pass the exam, and thanks to that deep study I learnt new Salesforce stuff and increased my proficiency in features I hadn’t actually ever used, making me the “most skilled” guy in my company regarding Omni-Channel or Salesforce Knowledge. This is an absolute win for both you and your company: certifications are meant to make you a trailblazer. Needless to say headhunters really love Salesforce certifications (my owning 20 certifications  attracts tens of contact requests on my social channels). Your book, Salesforce Advanced Administrator Certification Guide promises to give administrators a deeper knowledge of advanced Salesforce features for administrators. Why should one read this book? How is it different from other available Salesforce certification guides in the market? At first I want to say that the Salesforce Advanced Administrator Certification is a bit mistreated by administrators (as far as I’ve seen in my career): it is usually considered too hard or too complex for the skills you earn…”after all I’m already an administrator why should I become an advanced administrator”? You should my friend, the amount of things you learn is really huge, you’ll keep playing with features such as Lightning Knowledge, Omni-Channel, Live Chat, Lightning Content, features that maybe you’ve never used before, or exploring in depth the world of Salesforce automation with Process Builder, Lightning Flows, Entitlements and Approvals or knowing everything related to security and sharing of records (and many many more). Why should you choose this book? It covers extensively all required topics for the Salesforce Advanced Administrator certification keeping in mind the requirements for the exam as well. While the number of topics is too large for us to cover anything and everything for each topic, you’ll get a good amount of knowledge, suggestions and external references to ensure you reach the Salesforce Advanced Administrator certification goal. On the challenges faced by Salesforce administrators What are some of the challenges faced by Salesforce administrators today? How is Salesforce as a platform helping overcome these challenges? Can Salesforce administrators become developers too and vice versa? What is next for Salesforce? The biggest challenge that Salesforce admins face day after day is keeping pace with the extraordinarily growing Salesforce ecosystems: new companies join the Lightning Platform and new features are delivered release after release. It is more than mandatory that consultant companies and, in general, IT divisions reserve a percentage of their employees time for continuous learning, to allow Salesforce admins and devs to stay on track with the changing environment. Learning is a cost for sure, when you study you are not productive, but the benefits of a skilled and always on top employee overtakes its cost. And I see no obstacles for administrators to start their developer path as well: all they need is passion, curiosity and patience, Rome wasn’t built in a day and your developer skills won’t for sure. Trailhead is the starting point for any career path and I guess in the coming years we’ll see artificial intelligence absolutely stealing the show in Salesforce world and so admins should be prepared for the revolution that is taking place year after year. On making an impact in the Salesforce community You have created highly popular Salesforce browser extensions like ORGanizer. Tell us about how this came about? What does it take to build such successful products? Are you working on or planning to work on similar projects now? I said that boredom is my fuel: when I get bored I usually start a new project or a new hobby, and ORGanizer for Salesforce Chrome & Firefox extension (available at https://organizer.enree.co) is no different. It started as a personal project to ease my daily work with Salesforce projects, by adding little features that could speed up my administrative and coding tasks, while increasing my overall productivity. Then I thought, why not deliver this cool thing to my Salesforce Ohana? That’s where I believe the community took notice of me and it has remained one of the main reasons for my Salesforce MVP nomination. After the cool experience of writing a book, which is something that has been on my check list since I was a child, I have a few side projects related to Salesforce with some trailblazer friends, that I believe will have a great impact on the Ohana. And, why not, perhaps another book in 2020? Author Bio Enrico Murru is a Solution and Technical Architect at WebResults (an engineering company), an Italian platinum Salesforce partner, and an Independent Software Vendor (ISV). He has completed his MSc in Electronic Engineering at the University of Cagliari in 2007. In 2013, he launched a blog named Nerd @ Work. In 2016, he was nominated as the first Italian Salesforce MVP for his commitment to the Salesforce community. Then over the course of 3 years, Murru gained 20 Salesforce certifications, including the Salesforce Technical Architect certification. In 2016, he started one of the most popular projects, the ORGanizer for Salesforce Chrome and Firefox extension. You can follow him on Twitter @Enreeco, LinkedIn, GitHub, Trailblazer Community as well as on his personal blog page. Are you planning to embark on the journey of being a Salesforce Advanced Administrator? Confused about the various Salesforce certification programs and don’t know what to choose? Grab this book right now! The Salesforce Advanced Administrator Certification Guide will help you master data access security, monitoring and auditing, and understanding best practices for handling change management and data across organizations. What makes Salesforce Lightning Platform a powerful, fast and intuitive user interface What are the challenges of adopting AI-powered tools in Sales? How Salesforce can help Salesforce is buying Tableau in a $15.7 billion all-stock deal Salesforce’s open sourcing Centrifuge: A library for accelerating JVM restarts Build a custom Admin Home page in Salesforce CRM Lightning Experience

Management is a discipline that isn't short of coverage. In fact, it's probably fair to say that the world throws too much attention its way. This only serves to muddy the waters of management principles and make it hard to determine what really matters. To complicate things, technology is ripping up the rule book when it comes to processes and hierarchies. Programming and engineering are forcing management gurus to rethink what it means to 'manage' today. However, while the wealth of perspectives on modern management amount to a bit of a cacophony, looking specifically at what it means to be a manager in a world defined by software can be useful. That's why, in the latest episode of the Packt Podcast, we spoke to Herman Fung. Herman is someone with both development and management experience, and, following the publication of his book The Successful Software Manager earlier this year, he's been spending a lot of time seriously considering what it means to be a software manager. Listen to the podcast episode: https://soundcloud.com/packt-podcasts/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-software-manager-herman-fung-explains Some of the topics covered in this episode include: How to approach software management if you haven't done it before The impact of Agile and DevOps What makes managing in the context of engineering and technology different from other domains The differences between leadership and management You can buy The Successful Software Manager from the Packt store as a print or eBook. Click here. Follow Herman on Twitter: @FUNG14

The Packt library provides you with all the tools you need to stay relevant in tech, whether you’re looking to brush up your PHP skills or take advantage of our learning paths to start from scratch. Here’s our top five reasons to begin a Packt subscription.

Software security has been 'shifting left' in recent years. Thanks to movements like Agile and Dev(Sec)Ops, software developers are finding that they have to take more responsibility for the security of their code. By moving performance and security testing earlier in the development lifecycle it's much easier to identify and capture defects and issues. The reasons for this are largely rooted in the utter dominance of open source software and the increasingly distributed nature of the systems we're building. To put it bluntly, if our software is open, and loosely connected, the opportunity for systems to be exploited by malignant actors grows vastly. To tackle this we're starting to see a wealth of platforms and tools emerge that are trying to support developers embrace security as a fundamental part of the development process. One such platform is Semmle, a code analysis platform designed to help developers and engineers identify issues quickly. To find out more about Semmle - and the wider DevSecOps movement - we spoke to Chief Security Officer Fermin Serna in an edition of the Packt Podcast. He explained how Semmle works, what its trying to achieve, and placed it in the broader context of this 'shift left' that's quickly becoming a new reality for many engineers. Listen to the episode: https://soundcloud.com/packt-podcasts/we-need-to-democratize-security-how-semmle-is-improving-open-source-security   To learn more about Semmle, visit its website here. You can also follow Fermin Serna on Twitter: @fjserna. Read next:  5 reasons poor communication can sink DevSecOps How Chaos Engineering can help predict and prevent cyber-attacks preemptively

Vue occupies an interesting position in the triumvirate of frontend JavaScript frameworks. Not hyped to the extent that React is, and not as established as Angular, it’s spent the last couple of years quietly minding its business and building an engaged and enthusiastic community of developers. One of these developers is Marina Mosti: her book Building Forms with Vue.js is just the latest step in her career journey from a backend developer getting frustrated with Java to Vue.js evangelist and educator. She’s a great person to explain the attraction of Vue.js, and to provide an insight into how she first entered the community - luckily, I was able to chat with her. Buy Building Forms with Vue.js on the Packt store. Her background is interesting: “I actually started out as a PHP developer and found myself in a position where I forced myself into learning front end. It’s not until very recently that I started doing front end in terms of it being my main focus” she says. Rather than moving deeper down into the stack, she has gone the other way, gravitating towards the front end. That might not be completely conventional, but it’s also indicative of the evolution of both JavaScript and frontend development in general. Read the first chapter of the book for free on the Packt platform. Rethinking JavaScript Things today, Marina suggests, are quite different. She’s quick to tell me, for example, that “the current state of JavaScript is just so much better than what it used to be,” and recalls a general antipathy towards JavaScript in the early years of her career that she “dragged… around for many years.” “I went to this very small school where they taught us the basics of front end development” she explains. “And for good or for bad the teachers were always very adamant about saying ‘oh don’t bother learning vanilla JavaScript because we have jQuery and vanilla JavaScript is so bad that you’re not gonna use it.’” However, the framework boom changed this. “I got to a point where all these cool frameworks were coming out and you just realise ‘hey I don’t know javascript; I know jquery so how do I make this jump?’” This ‘jump’ wasn’t without challenges. “Just having to go back and learn the basics - that has been the most ‘challenging’ part of going onto front end - because the front end that I knew [at the time] was php side-generated HTML code with maybe a little bit of javascript, maybe some CSS.” Read next: Vue maintainers proposed, listened, and revised the RFC for hooks in Vue API Laravel and Vue.js Marina explains that she first encountered Vue while using Laravel. “We... wanted to take advantage of this built-in connection that Vue had with Laravel. Obviously this didn’t involve any fancy set up, there was no vue CLI, nothing of this good pre-compiling or anything, it was just injecting vue into the html and creating the components there on the fly” However, discovering Vue in this way proved to be revelatory: it actually underlined what makes it, in Marina’s view, a great front end framework. “You don’t really have to commit to the whole framework,” she says; “it just got the job done for what I needed at that moment.” What problems can Vue.js solve? Marina has a pretty clear perspective on the challenges in front end development. “The problems we’re currently facing in front end development... is that people don’t want the old browsing experience where you’re clicking around and having to wait for reloads” she says. “We want to make applications… that are very performant, they have a great user experience, you are not waiting for page refreshes - it flows. What we are looking for is having your applications flow in a way that makes sense, like if you were using a desktop application.” Vue is particularly good for this, Marina explains, because of its “reusable component structure.” To a certain extent, this way of working is just another example of the wider trend across engineering towards breaking things apart. “You are trying to make these small units of code, that do this specific thing… a very common way to describe it is like this lego system where you’re just putting pieces on top of each other and it just starts making sense.” I’ve heard that analogy before in relation to containers - there’s clearly a recurring theme that’s evolving out of core principles of design. If Vue is well-suited to building lightweight but highly performant front ends, another important element is that it makes development relatively easy. Again, Marina contrasts working with Vue today with what JavaScript development looked like in the past. “You used to have... these massive massive amounts of code, and code separation of concerns was just very complicated to manage. You had to [do] a lot of overhead and work... trying to figure out how are we going to structure these files so that it makes sense.” The Vue CLI Tooling was also more complicated; something that the Vue CLI has helped to solve.“You had to deal with - at a very intricate level - how tools like Grunt worked, for example. And now you have like these pre-build tools like the Vue CLI which allow you to not have to really think about things," she says. “You don’t have to think like ‘hey, how is this going to get compiled? How is webpack going to figure things out?’ At least not at an entry level because you have it all neatly packed in this box for you with the Vue CLI.” Comparing Vue.js to React and Angular Although it’s clear that Marina is incredibly passionate and enthusiastic about Vue, she’s also circumspect about ranking JavaScript frameworks against each other. “All 3 frameworks are fantastic. All 3 get the job done. This is like asking someone why is this your favorite flavor of ice cream?!” Vue.js v. React She notes that React and Vue have a lot in common. “They share a lot of similarities - both of them use a virtual DOM… they both have this reactive component structure.” However, the key difference, from Marina’s perspective, is JSX. “If you’re talking about React, you’re talking about JSX, this approach where everything is javascript. You’re writing HTML inside the JavaScript, you’re writing CSS inside the JavaScript.” It’s JSX that puts Marina off React, saying that the way it requires you to work “doesn’t really click. I know how to do it, but just in the way I like to code things I prefer just having the separation where HTML is HTML, and where CSS is CSS.” Want to learn React.js? Search the latest React eBooks and videos. Read next: Ionic React released; Ionic Framework pivots from Angular to a native React version Vue.js v. Angular Angular, meanwhile, is “great for enterprise projects where you need this huge huge framework” says Marina. “But that also comes at a cost of having to know all the framework. All the libraries, everything that Angular brings to the table, you have to know TypeScript - it's just very opinionated at what it does and sometimes the shoe is going to be very big for the project.” So, for Marina, Vue has a degree of flexibility. It’s not as opinionated as Angular, and it doesn’t require you to write using JSX. “It can grow up until the point you need it to… From the smallest component in your application to powering full enterprise solutions.” And related to this, it means Vue is accessible - the learning curve isn’t that steep. “Vue is just very gentle in that you can start using it; you can start building things right away.” “There's a very good pay off in making yourself an expert in it... once you start getting into the core of Vue, and understanding all the little tools that are at your disposal… you can start building upon this knowledge... the framework can grow and adjust to what you’re needing.” Search the latest Angular eBooks and videos. The Vue.js community There are undoubtedly many technical reasons to consider using Vue. However, another aspect that Marina emphasises throughout our conversation is how welcoming and supportive the Vue community is. “The Vue community is one of the biggest selling points of why you should pick Vue and why Vue is so amazing.” The Vue community was, Marina says, integral in getting her to where she is now. “I was, at one point, not very into vue… and I just found a very welcoming community and a very inclusive community... People in the community care about other developers that are getting into Vue. We try our best to make this feel like a very safe, inclusive community to just get people in here and get them developing vue and help them out with the problems they’re having.” Marina deserves credit for playing a part in fostering a welcoming and supportive culture. Not only has she created a wealth of learning materials (such as a great free introductory tutorial series), she also works closely with Vue Vixens, and provides mentoring and support for other women finding their way in the industry. “This focus on education just basically became my goal… Hey, let’s do things to teach people, to get more people involved with vue,” she says. In an industry that’s sometimes defined by hyper-competitiveness, and marred by toxicity, it’s certainly a worthwhile and important goal. It’s something we can all work at. Follow Marina Mosti on Twitter: @MarinaMosti Follow Vue Vixens on Twitter: @VueVixens

"Open source back in the late nineties - and even throughout the 2000s - was really hard to use," ActiveState CEO Bart Copeland says. "Our job," he continues, "was to make it much easier for developers to use open source and much easier for enterprises to use open source." How does ActiveState work? But how does ActiveState actually do this? Copeland explains: "ActiveState is exactly like Red Hat. So what Red Hat did to Linux - providing enterprise-grade Linux distributions - ActiveState does for open source programming languages." Clearly ActiveState is an interesting product that's playing an important part in helping enterprises to better manage the widespread migration to open source technology. For the latest edition of the Packt Podcast we spoke to Copeland about ActiveState and the growth of open source over the last decade. We think you'll find what he has to say interesting... Listen: https://soundcloud.com/packt-podcasts/activestate-making-open-source-more-accessible-for-the-enterprise-interview-with-bart-copeland   Read next: Can a modified MIT ‘Hippocratic License’ to restrict misuse of open source software prompt a wave of ethical innovation in tech? Key quotes from Bart Copeland Copeland on the relationship between enterprise management and developers: "If you look at the enterprise… they want to make sure that it works and it doesn’t cause security threats and their in compliance with all the licenses. And the result is, due to the complexities of open source, management within the enterprise will often limit developers on what languages and what open source stacks they can use because the more stacks you have, the more complexity you have in an organization." Copeland on developer freedom: "A developer is a very technical and creative individual and they want to be able to use the right tools to build the right solution. And so if a developer is handcuffed to certain technology stacks, they may not be able to use the best technology to solve the problem." Learn more about ActiveState here.

Last month, Fastly, a provider of an edge cloud platform, introduced a collection of resources to help developers learn the ins and outs of popular cloud solutions. The collection consists of step-by-step tutorials and ready-to-deploy code that developers can customize, and deploy to their Fastly configuration. We had the opportunity to interview Adam Denenberg, Fastly’s SVP of Customer Solutions, to get more insight into this particular project and other initiatives Fastly is taking to empower developers. We also grabbed this opportunity to talk to Denenberg about the emergence and growth of edge computing and fog computing and what it all means for the industry. What are the advantages of edge computing over cloud? Cloud computing is a centralized service that provides computing resources including servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics, and intelligence on demand. It is flexible, scalable, enables faster innovation, and has revolutionized the way people store and interact with data. However, because it is a centralized system, it can cause issues such as higher latency, limited bandwidth, security issues, and the requirement of high-speed internet connectivity. This is where edge computing comes in - to address these limitations. In essence, it’s a decentralized cloud. “Edge computing is the move to put compute power and logic as close to the end-user as possible. The edge cloud uses the emerging cloud computing serverless paradigm in which the cloud provider runs the server and dynamically manages the allocation of machine resources,” Denenberg explains. When it comes to making real-time decisions edge computing, can be very effective. He adds, “The average consumer expects speedy online experiences, so when milliseconds matter, the advantage of processing at the edge is that it is an ideal way to handle highly dynamic and time-sensitive data quickly. “In contrast, running modern applications from a central cloud poses challenges related to latency, ability to pre-scale, and cost-efficiency.” What is the difference between fog computing and edge computing? Fog computing and edge computing can appear very similar. They both involve pushing intelligence and processing capabilities closer to the origin of data. However, the difference lies in where the location of intelligence and compute power is placed. Explaining the difference between the two, Denenberg said, “fog computing, a term invented by Cisco, shares some similar design goals as edge computing, such as reducing latency to the end-user request and providing access to compute resources in a decentralized model. After that, things begin to differ.” He adds, “On the one hand, fog computing has a focus on use cases like IoT and sensors. This allows enterprises to extend their network from a central cloud closer to their devices and sensors, while maintaining a reliance on the central cloud. “Edge computing, on the other hand, is also about moving compute closer to the end-user, but doing so in a way that removes the dependency on the central cloud as much as possible. By collocating compute and storage (cache) on Fastly’s edge cloud, our customers are able to build very complex, global-scale applications and digital experiences without any dependency on a centralized compute resources.” Will edge computing replace cloud computing? A short answer to this question would be “not really.” “I don’t think anything at this moment will fully replace the central cloud,” Denenberg explains. “People said data centers were dead as soon as AWS took off, and, while we certainly saw a dramatic shift in where workloads were being run over the last decade, plenty of organizations still operate very large data centers. “There will continue to be certain workloads such as large-scale offline data processing, data warehouses, and the building of machine learning models that are much more suited to an environment that requires high compute density and long and complex processing times that operate on extremely massive data sets with no time sensitivity.” What is Fastly? Fastly’s story started back in 2008 when Artur Bergman, its founder, was working at Wikia. Three years later, he founded Fastly, headquartered in San Francisco, with its branches in four cities including London, Tokyo, New York, and Denver. Denenberg shared that Fastly’s edge cloud platform was built to address the limitations in content delivery networks (CDNs). “Fastly is an edge cloud platform built by developers, to empower developers. It came about as a result of our founder Artur Bergman's experience leading engineering at Wikia, where his passion for delivering fast, reliable, and secure online experiences for communities around the world was born. So he saw firsthand that CDNs -- which were supposed to address this problem -- weren't equipped to enable the global, real-time experiences needed in the modern era.” He further said, “To ensure a fast, reliable, and secure online experience, Fastly developed an edge cloud platform designed to provide unprecedented, real-time control, and visibility that removes traditional barriers to innovation. Knowing that developers are at the heart of building the online experience, Fastly was built to empower other developers to write and deploy code at the edge. We did this by making the platform extremely accessible, self-service, and API-first.” Fastly’s new edge cloud resources Coming to Fastly’s new edge cloud resources, Denenberg shared the motivation behind this launch. He said, “We’re here to serve the developer community and allow them to dream bigger at the edge, where we believe the future of the web will be built. This new collection of recipes and tutorials was born out of countless collaborations and problem-solving discussions with Fastly's global community of customers. Fastly's new collection of edge cloud resources make it faster and safer for developers to discover, test, customize, and deploy edge cloud solutions.” Currently, Fastly has shared 66 code-based edge cloud solutions covering aspects like authentication, image optimization, logging, and more. It plans to add more solutions to the list in the near future. Denenberg shared, “Our initial launch of 66 recipes and four solution patterns were created from some of the most common and valuable solutions we’ve seen when working with our global customer base. However, this is just the beginning - many more solutions are on our radar to launch on a regular cadence. This is what has us really excited-- as we expose more of these solutions to customers, the more inspiration they have to go even further in their work, which creates a remarkable flywheel of innovation on our edge cloud.” Challenges when developing on the edge When asked about what edge cloud solutions Denenberg thinks developers often find difficult, he said, “I think difficulty is a tricky thing to address because engineering is a lot of times about tradeoffs. Those tradeoffs are most often realized when pursuing instant scalability, being able to run edge functions everywhere, and achieving low latency and microsecond boot time. He adds, “NoSQL saw tremendous growth because it presented the ability to achieve scale with very reasonable trade-offs based on the types of applications people were building that traditional SQL databases made very difficult, from an architectural perspective, like scaling writes linearly to a cluster easily, for example. So for me, given the wide variety of applications our customers can build, I think it’s about taking advantage of our platform in a way that improves the overall user experience, which sometimes just requires a shifting of the mindset in how those applications are architected.” We asked Denenberg whether other developers will be able to pitch in to expand this collection of resources. “We are already talking with customers who are excited to share what they have built on our platform that might allow others to achieve enhanced online experiences for their end users,” he told us. “Fastly has an internal team dedicated to reviewing the solutions customers are interested in sharing to ensure they have the same consistency and coding style that mirrors how we would publish them internally. We welcome the sharing of innovation from our customer base that continues to inspire us through their work on the edge.” Other initiatives by Fastly to empower developers Fastly is continuously contributing towards making the internet more trustworthy and safer by getting involved in projects like QUIC, Encrypted SNI, and WebAssembly. Last year, Fastly made three of its projects available on Fastly Labs: Terrarium, Fiddle, and Insights. Read also: Mozilla introduces Neqo, Rust implementation for QUIC, new http protocol Denenberg shared that there are many ways Fastly is contributing to the open source community. “Yes, empowering developers is at the forefront of what we do. As developers are familiar with the open-source caching software that we use, it makes adopting our platform easier. We give away free Fastly services to open source and nonprofit projects. We also continue to work on open source projects, which empower developers to build applications in multiple languages and run them faster and more securely at our edge.” Fastly also constantly tries to improve its edge cloud platform to meet its customers’ needs and empower them to innovate. “As an ongoing priority, we work to ensure that developers have the control and insight into our edge platform they need. To this end, our programmable edge provides developers with real-time visibility and control, where they can write and deploy code to push application logic to the edge. This supports modern application delivery processes and, just as importantly, frees developers to innovate without constraints,” Denenberg adds. He concludes, “Finally, we believe our values empower our community in several ways. At Fastly, we have chosen to grow with a focus on transparency, integrity, and inclusion. To do this, we are building a kind, ethical, and inclusive team that reflects our diverse customer base and the diversity of the developers that are creating online experiences. The more diverse our workforce, the easier it is to attract diverse talent and build technology that provides true value for our developer community across the world.” Follow Adam Denenberg on Twitter: @denen Learn more about Fastly and its edge-cloud platform at Fastly’s official website. More on cloud computing Cloud Next 2019 Tokyo: Google announces new security capabilities for enterprise users Google Cloud and Nvidia Tesla set new AI training records with MLPerf benchmark results How do AWS developers manage Web apps?

In recent years, deep learning has made unprecedented progress in vision, speech, natural language processing and understanding, and other areas of data science. Developments in deep learning techniques, including GANs, variational autoencoders and deep reinforcement learning, are creating impressive AI results. For example, DeepMind's AlphaGo Zero became a game changer in AI research when it beat world champions in the game of Go. In this interview, Professor Rowel Atienza, author of the book Advanced Deep Learning with Keras talks about the recent developments in the field of deep learning. This book is a comprehensive guide to the advanced deep learning techniques available today, so you can create your own cutting-edge AI. This book strikes a balance between advanced concepts in deep learning and practical implementations with Keras. Key takeaways from the interview The intuition of deep learning is built on the fact that the deeper the network gets, the more feature representations the network learns in order to solve complex real-world problems. The objective of deep learning is to enable agents to be more robust to unforeseen events and to lessen the dependency on huge data. Advances in GANs enable us to generate high-dimensional fake data such as high-resolution images or videos that look very convincing. Deep learning tackles the curse of dimensionality by finding efficient data structures and layers that could represent complex data in the most efficient manner. The interview in detail What is the intuition behind deep learning? What are the recent developments in deep learning? Rowel Atienza: Deep learning is built on the intuition that the deeper the network gets, the more feature representations the network learns in order to solve complex real-world problems. Unlike machine learning, deep learning learns these features automatically from data in different degrees of supervision. There are many recent developments in deep learning. There are advances on graph neural networks because people are realizing the limits of NLP (Natural Language Processing), CNN (Convolution Neural Networks), and RNN (Recurrent Neural Networks) in representing more complex data structures such as social network, 3D shapes, molecular structures, etc. Implementing the causality in reasoning on data is another area of strong interest. Deep learning is strong on correlation not on discovering causality in data. Meta learning or learning to learn is also another area of interest. The objective is to enable agents to be more robust to unforeseen events and to lessen the dependency on huge data. What are different deep learning techniques to create successful AI? RA: A successful AI is dependent on two things: 1) deep domain knowledge and 2) deep understanding of state of the art techniques that will work on the domain problem. Domain knowledge comes from someone who is very familiar with the domain problem. This person is not necessarily knowledgeable in AI. This domain knowledge is then modelled in AI to automate the process of problem solving. How deep learning tackles the curse of dimensionality? RA: One of the goals of deep learning is to keep on finding efficient data structures and layers that could represent complex data in the most efficient manner. For example, geometric deep learning is able to circumvent the limitations of representing and learning from 3D data by avoiding inefficient 3D convolutions. There is still so much to be done in this space. What is autoencoders? What is the need of autoencoders in deep learning? How do you create an autoencoder? RA: Autoencoders compress high dimensionality data into low dimensionality code without losing important information. Low-dimensional code is suitable for further processing by other deep learning models such as in generative models like GANs and VAEs. Autoencoder can easily be implemented using two networks, an encoder and decoder. The depth, width, and type of layers are dependent on the original data to be encoded. Why are GANs so innovative? RA: GANs are innovative since they are good in generating fake data that look real. It is something that is hard to accomplish using other generative models. The advances in GANs enable us to generate high-dimensional fake data such as high resolution image or video that look very convincing. Tell us a little bit about this book? What makes this book necessary? What gap does it fill? RA: Advanced Deep Learning with Keras focuses on recent advances on deep learning It starts with a quick review of deep learning concepts (NLP, CNN, RNN). The discussions on deep neural networks, autoencoders, generative adversarial network (GAN), variational autoencoders (VAE), and deep reinforcement learning (DRL) follow. The book is important for everyone who would like to understand advanced concepts on deep learning and their corresponding implementation in Keras. The current version has in depth focus on generative models (autoencoders, GANs, VAEs) that could be used in-practical setting. The DRL explains the core concepts of value-based and policy-based methods in reinforcement learning and the corresponding working implementations in Keras which are difficult to make them right. About the Book Advanced Deep Learning with Keras is a comprehensive guide to the advanced deep learning techniques available today, so you can create your own cutting-edge AI. Using Keras as an open-source deep learning library, you'll find hands-on projects throughout that show you how to create more effective AI with the latest techniques. About the Author Rowel Atienza is an Associate Professor at the Electrical and Electronics Engineering Institute of the University of the Philippines, Diliman. He holds the Dado and Maria Banatao Institute Professorial Chair in Artificial Intelligence. Rowel has been fascinated with intelligent robots since he graduated from the University of the Philippines. He received his MEng from the National University of Singapore for his work on an AI-enhanced four-legged robot. He finished his Ph.D. at The Australian National University for his contribution to the field of active gaze tracking for human-robot interaction. Deep learning models have massive carbon footprints, can photonic chips help reduce power consumption? Machine learning experts on how we can use machine learning to mitigate and adapt to the changing climate Google launches beta version of Deep Learning Containers for developing, testing and deploying ML applications