Ravi S. Iyer: Software Development

I am a MERN full stack software developer who has re-entered software industry after a long gap. I am exploring opportunities for web application development (Next.js, MERN stack) as well as suitable technical consultant work, in part-time, 10 to 20 hours per week, work-from-home mode. Note that I am 62 years old and have personal issues related limitations. But for the past around one and a half years, I have been able to do part-time software work at home. Of this, initial around year and a quarter has been individual activity (upskilling, doing my own individual projects etc.) Later, over past nearly three months, I have been able to do an average of around 20 hours (if not more) software development work per week for a software development company as a project team member. I am ready to offer an up to two weeks free trial period to any company which is seriously considering to use my services. This free trial period can help both, the company and me, to see if it is working out. I ...

From Oct to Dec 2024, as part of a software industry company team, I worked as a developer on ReactJS frontend of a web app for an NGO educational portal. The web app manages creation of learning aids assets by volunteers from request to completion. The technologies I mainly worked on for this project were ReactJS and Bootstrap. I did this work as part-time, work-from-home, and as a free service volunteer. This project was my return to software industry work after a gap of 22 years (Sep. 2002 to Sep. 2024). It was very satisfying to contribute as a software developer to providing a software solution for real world needs. For 22 years, I did not have this satisfaction! Note that I taught software development from 2003 to 2012 but that work did not involve developing software solutions for real world needs. I was wondering whether I could effectively and happily contribute as a 62 year old software developer to a team which is much, much younger than me! I was also wondering whether I wo...

Last updated on 30 Dec 2024 Summary points on XSS and JWT in context of React apps, based on my understanding: 1) XSS seems to be mainly a JavaScript injection technique. XSS attacks can be Reflected (malicious script comes in the HTTP request), Stored (malicious script comes from database) and DOM-based (e.g. malicious script comes from input field). 2) React has some XSS protection. It automatically escapes string variables that are displayed in views. But a React app can still be vulnerable to XSS attack if it uses some features. For example, using dangerouslySetInnerHTML, using anchor elements whose href is set to user-supplied data, and passing user supplied data as props to React components. 3) Checking that a React app. is not vulnerable to XSS does not seem to be an easy task.  4) Production React apps should have React Dev Tools and Redux Dev Tools disabled as otherwise, it seems, the state variables data of React and Redux will be available via browser tools for debugging...

Last updated on 24 Dec. 2024 From the initial part of the tutorials that I have browsed so far, one of the challenges involved in running a React Native app on Android outside of Expo, is having to upload the app to Google Play Store which involves a one-time fee or US $25, IIRC, and has a review process, OR sideloading a .apk file on the Android mobile, which has its risks. I don't want to take such a risk with my mobile phone (Samsung Android). What are the risks of sideloaded Android applications?, https://www.samsungknox.com/en/blog/what-are-the-risks-of-sideloaded-android-applications , April 2020. It seems there are some other options for creating apps to run on Android mobile. I have yet to study the links below but they seem to be promising. Referencing local files from HTML in Android, https://stackoverflow.com/questions/77234850/referencing-local-files-from-html-in-android Learn PWA,  https://web.dev/learn/pwa  . ======== A very simple app I would like to create is ...

Note: The current version of this post covers mainly installation of Android emulators. A later update is planned to explore running React Native developed Android apps on these Android emulators. Currently it shares a few articles related to the latter. Related post: Notes on React Native,  https://raviswdev.blogspot.com/2024/12/notes-on-react-native.html My old Android Kotlin programming quick exposure post: Getting exposed to Android App. Development – Quick Notes, https://ravisiyer.wordpress.com/2023/10/01/getting-exposed-to-android-app-development-quick-notes  : briefly mentions Android Studio installation I did then in Oct. 2023 but does not mention other emulator tests that I recall I did then (like Nox). Related longish extract is given below (slightly edited): Recommended RAM is 8 GB for Android Studio! My desktop PC on which I installed it has 4 GB RAM. It did get installed but runs very slowly. Further, the Android emulator part is extremely slow and even then ...

Last updated on 21 Jan. 2025 Note: Related post: Notes on Android Emulator for running React Native developed app on 4 GB RAM PC,  https://raviswdev.blogspot.com/2024/12/notes-on-android-emulator-for-running.html . My last look at React Native tutorial code seems to have been in April 2024: Notes on React Native tutorial and using Expo on my Android phone to explore the tutorial, https://raviswdev.blogspot.com/2024/04/notes-on-react-native-tutorial-and.html , LU 20 April 2024. But that seems to have been an earlier version tutorial as it seems to match https://reactnative.dev/docs/0.73/environment-setup (React Native 0.73) but does not match the current version tutorial: https://reactnative.dev/docs/set-up-your-environment (shows version as React Native 0.76) ---- The official tutorial, it seems: https://reactnative.dev/docs/getting-started . ----- React Native for Beginners tutorial, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hp9sTsiTZ_I , 22 mins, Dave Gray, Oct. 2024. Extensions ...

Last updated on 12 Dec. 2024 Firebase Cloud Messaging: https://firebase.google.com/products/cloud-messaging "Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) provides a reliable and battery-efficient connection between your server and devices that allows you to deliver and receive messages and notifications on iOS, Android, and the web at no cost." https://console.firebase.google.com/project/_/notification Introducing Firebase Cloud Messaging, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sioEY4tWmLI , around a min. I was quite surprised to see on Firebase website that it indeed is free to use and does not mention limits for free use. This quora discussion is relevant to this: Why is Firebase Cloud Message free of charge? Does Google use/sell end users data for advetisement like OneSignal?, [FCM is Firebase Cloud Messaging] https://www.quora.com/Why-is-Firebase-Cloud-Message-free-of-charge-Does-Google-use-sell-end-users-data-for-advetisement-like-OneSignal ...  I was wondering if Google has a plan to sta...