Blog

   Software Development

React Native and Bluetooth - Discovering Services and Characteristics and Reading Data

I’ve built a simple app to capture weight data from some bluetooth enabled bathroom scales. The app uses the react-native-ble-plx library from Polidea to handle the Bluetooth connections. The library is great - there’s good documentation - and getting it to work with the scales was pretty straightforward once I’d got a basic understanding of how the scales’ Bluetooth LE services and characteristics work.

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   Software Development

What you should know before you commission and develop your mobile app

Are you about to commission your first mobile app? Here are some things you should know. They may save you time, reduce your costs and in the end help you create a better product.

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   Software Development

Simple TCP service with Node.js to capture weight data from wireless weighing scales

How do you use Node.js to build a TCP server to collect weight data from a set of wireless enabled scales?

TCP works by establishing a connection between server and client. The server listens on a particular port and then makes a connection when messages come in from a client device.

We want a TCP server to listen for messages from some scales on the same wireless network. The scales are already configured with the server IP address and port number.

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   Software Development

How to create a line graph in Chart.js with dynamic data

How do you create JavaScript charts with the chart.js library that use data from a database on a server?

We use chart.js to display data about apprenticeship vacancies Sheffield. Each day we get the data from the gov.uk apprenticeship service API. The data's saved to a database and then used to build a chart that shows how the number of apprenticeship vacancies in each category is changing over time.

How do we get data from the server into the Javascript that creates the chart in the user’s browser?

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   Software Development

Bespoke CRM development - 5 high impact ideas that could transform your business

You’ve got three main options if you want to collect useful data about customers, enquiries, leads and sales:

  • Do it ad-hoc - build a series of loose systems and processes around MS Excel.
  • Configure and use an established off-the-shelf system - perhaps a solution like Salesforce or MS Dynamics.
  • Go down the bespoke path. Find a software development company and then design and develop your own custom solution.
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   Software Development

How to become a software developer in 12 weeks

This a 12 week programme of free online software development courses, activities and lessons for someone who wants to become a software developer. It’s a route through some of the best resources on the web.

The programme is for someone with little or no software development experience - a young person who doesn’t want to go to university or an older person who wants to switch careers and become a software developer.

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   Software Development

Marsden Connect mobile app development - capturing weight data from medical scales with bluetooth

Sheffield based Marsden Weighing Group is the UK’s leading manufacturers of medical weighing scales. For more than 90 years the UK medical profession has relied on Marsden for high quality, accurate scales.

Marsden is now a market leading supplier of telehealth solutions. Its range of precision Bluetooth and wireless enabled scales can transmit weight data to nearby devices. Recorded weights are accurate and integration with hospital record systems means data can be shared between departments without the need for further weigh-ins each time a patient is assessed.

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   Software Development

Sheffield Apprenticeships - How to develop an app for Android and iOS with React Native

The Sheffield Apprenticeships app is the quickest way to find apprenticeship vacancies in Sheffield. You scroll through a list, click on a vacancy and then if you’re still interested, go directly to the Gov.uk Find An Apprenticeship website and apply. The app does exactly what Apple recommend in their app developer guidelines and solves a problem; young people can see at a glance the apprenticeship opportunities in Sheffield.

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   Software Development

How to create a better website landing page so you get more leads

What makes a good landing page for an online service or application? I decided to look at the home pages of three successful online services and pick out the things that seem to represent good practice.

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   Software Development

How to become a software developer without a degree in computer science

You don’t need a degree in computer science to become a software developer. You just need a plan, some effort and an aptitude for solving problems. The demand for software developers is as high as ever and good developers are in short supply - that means great salaries and plenty of vacancies. You can make the move if you really want to.

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