Jamie Orme

Congratulations!
Now Im only guessing here but you are not the real Sachin are you? You know the best cricket batsman in the world
[ October 16, 2003: Message edited by: Jamie Orme ]

Things do seem to be picking up in London!
After finishing my last contract, I decided (after going over to Australia to watch England get thrashed in the cricket!) to consolidate my Java skills by going on a couple of Sun training courses and then completing the programmer and developer certifications (I found this great site in the process). I felt it was a good time to invest in some personal development as the job market was so flat. I then spent around 6-8 weeks looking for work and after spending all of last week in interviews finally secured myself a new job before all my hard earned cash ran out (which pleased my girlfriend no end � I was about to start scrounging money from her!). The job is in the city, as were most of the positions I interviewed for. What I can say is that compared to a few years ago, salaries are fairly unchanged (in some cases lower), but the interview process much tougher. All had numerous Java/SQL technical tests (which without the Java certifications I wouldn�t have passed), and in one I had to sit a generic programmer�s exam! It seems that as it is still an employers market, with lots of quality people looking for work, they can afford to be a lot choosier. However, having said that all the recruitment consultants I spoke to said that the job market was improving and should continue to get better. I guess I was fairly lucky as I know that some people have been looking for work a lot longer than I have. I�m sure having some previous experience of working in the city helped my case, though a number of the jobs didn�t require any previous financial knowledge and some companies were looking to recruit new graduates. I just hope that all of you still looking for a job find work ASAP - I know things are tough out there but bit by bit they seem to be getting better!
Cheers
Jamie

Anyone else experienced a test like this? Anyone else got any ideas?
Many Thanks
Jamie

Hi All
I don't know if anyone can help me out here, but I have got a job interview on Tuesday which involves sitting a programming test. Normally I would be fairly comfortable with this, as I would expect questions on Java, SQL, Unix, etc. However this test is different, see comments from recruiter below:
"The Interview will be approximately 2 hours and will involve a 1.5 hour technical test; the test is a programming aptitude test, it is designed to see how quickly candidates can pick up new technologies. It presents them with a pseudo code language which they are required to learn and answer questions on. It is not something that people can revise for I'm afraid."
Anyone out there sat a test like this? Any ideas on the sort of questions that may be asked, or any sample programming aptitude tests that they know of?
Hopefully I have nothing to panic about, I�m fairly comfortable with my skills; it�s just that if I can do some preparation (to remove cobwebs from brain) I'd be a bit happier!
Many Thanks
Jamie

Guys
I did create a primary key on name and location, and included checks in both the update and create methods. The update method catches DuplicateKeyException and then using exception chaining passes it on as a RecordNotFoundException.
I defined the key in a ContractorSchema class which extended an abstract Schema class. The Schema class, in addition to reading in meta-data, contained an abstract method:
/** * Returns the field numbers that constitute the primary key of a record * in the data file * * @return An <code>int</code> array that relates to the field numbers * that make up the primary key in the data file. */ public abstract int[] getKeyFields();

The ContractorSchema class provided an implementation for this, and thus allowed the Data class to remain generic as it could be created with any Schema class defined (say in the future a CustomerSchema class).
I did get full marks for my Data class, but that doesnt mean to say you should do as I did. I just thought there should be a primary key, so I implemented one and then documented it. My extra effort may well have been overkill.....
Cheers
Jamie
[ July 29, 2003: Message edited by: Jamie Orme ]
[ July 29, 2003: Message edited by: Jamie Orme ]

Hi All
Found out today that I passed SCJD scoring 94%.
Although I didnt post that often I read the forum with interest and certainly picked up a great deal of valuable information. Without it, I do not believe I would have been as successful. Keep up the good work!
Special thanks to Andrew who never failed to answer any of my convoluted MVC questions!
Cheers
Jamie

Hi Andrew
Thanks for the reply.
I think I follow what you are saying (it is early in the morning here in the UK ). I think I will leave things as they are and not implement the 'hook' methods for any action that doesnt require the model (anyone have a contradictary view on this?) . BTW my on-line help is in HTML, that that has a front page with links to specific items. Its not brilliant, but it does the job!
Thanks again
Jamie

BTW my current set-up is to have any actions that do not require the model totally within the view (not using 'hook' methods).
Cheers
Jamie

Hi All
I have coded my MVC using the hook methods described in previous posts. One thing is bugging me though (last minute check before upload) - should the view ONLY be passing on actions to the controller that will ultimately require the controller to pass onto the model? For example, I can see how a search action or a book action should work, but what about displaying help or having a button to clear the search criteria? They could be achieved entirely within the view.
Sorry, if this question is a bit simple, Im fairly new to MVC! I would be extremly grateful if someone could put me out of my misery and post soon!
Many Thanks
Jamie

Originally posted by Andrew Monkhouse:
Hi Jamie
Don't read too much into my regrets about having multiple instances of the data class - I was doing a different assignment. Many of my regrets were because I had to change some code supplied by Sun, and I dont believe that was the right thing to do.
I think my questions for the new assignment would be:

is there only one class that can write to the the physical file?

is the Data class the class that is doing that writing?
I think it would be better to have only one class that can actually do writing to the file. And I think that there should only be one instance of the class that does the writing per file (By the way, the class that does the writing does not have to be the Data class).
Just my 2 cents worth.
Regards, Andrew

Hi Andrew
Thanks for your reply.
My Data class does write to the data file, using NIO. Although each client will get its own copy of Data for a particular file (so it can read/search records without blocking), only one instance of Data for that file can write to it any any one time.
Regards
Jamie

Hi All
I have just finished my assignment, and about to upload.
However, I have been reading a few threads regarding the number of instances of Data created by the database server for a particular file. It seems that the consensus is to create one instance of Data per data file. I seem to remember Andrew saying that he created multiple instances of Data, but now regrets this. So, it seems that this approach will not lose points (or at least not very many!), but is not the best one to adopt. So, on to my solution........
I create an instance of Data per connection, regardless of the file (hence my concern and this post!). The main reason was that reads and searches would not block as they have their own file channel. I do have a very simple mechanism to synchronize updates/deletes/inserts to ensure no primary key violations (in addition to normal record locking). Everything seems to work fine......
Should I stick with the above? Its not a question of losing/gaining a couple of points here and there (though it would be nice to pass!), but going forward I want to make sure I adopt best possible practises. Plus, I dont think it would take very long to change my solution to one instance per file.
Many Thanks
Jamie

Hi Andrew
I see what you mean! Having had a good look at my code I now fully understand the points you have raised (especially after revisiting one of Eugenes examples). So I have modifed my code again, so that all validation is now done in and by the view BEFORE (and not inside) the bookContractor method on the controller.
Many thanks for all your help,
Jamie

Thanks for your reply Andrew. I tend to agree with the point you have raised. As this has been bothering me for some time I have now changed my controller so that the book method is similar to the following:
/** * Books specified contractor via model. */ private void bookContractor() { try { // Model will fire event on view model.bookContractor( view.processBooking() ); } catch ( ContractorException e ) { view.showError( e.getMessage() ); } }
The processBooking() method on the view will now throw a ContractorException if the pre-validation fails. E.g.
public Contractor processBooking() throws ContractorException { Contractor contractor = getSelectedContractor(); if ( contractor.getHoldingCustomer().equals( "" ) ) { ContractorDialog dialog = new ContractorDialog( this, contractor, ContractorDialog.BOOK_CONTRACTOR ); dialog.showDialog(); if ( !contractor.getHoldingCustomer().equals( "" ) ) { return contractor; } else { throw new ContractorException( "Contractor Booking Cancelled" ); } } else { throw new ContractorException( "Contractor Already Assigned To Customer Id '" + contractor.getHoldingCustomer() + "'" ); } }
Im a bit happier with this. What do you think? Anyone else care to comment?
Cheers
Jamie
[ June 10, 2003: Message edited by: Jamie Orme ]

If someone could briefly comment on the above Id be extremely grateful.
Many Thanks
Jamie

Hi All
I have looked at a number of MVC posts on this forum, and have coded accordingly. However, I still want to verify that I have implemented my controller correctly. As I understand things the controller accepts actions from the user via the view and passes them onto the model, which in turn will update the view. In my code (Contractors assignment) I have something like the following in my controller:
/** * Books specified contractor via model. * * @param contractor Contractor to book */ private void bookContractor( Contractor c ) { // Check to see if contractor already booked if ( c.getHoldingCust().equals( "" ) ) { // Get holding customer id String cust = view.getHoldCust(c); // Book contractor if user entered cust if ( !cust.equals( "" ) ) { try { // Model will fire event on view model.book(c,cust); } catch ( ContractorException e ) { view.showError( "Error!" ); } } } else { // Contractor already assigned view.showError( "Already Booked" ); } }
Notice that the bookContractor() method does more than simply pass the action onto the model, unlike my getContractors() method:
/** * Gets all contractors with crieria from model * * @param name Contractor name * @param city Contractor location * @workType Contractors work types */ private void getContractors( String name, String city, String workType ) { try { // Model will fire event on view model.getContractors( name, city, workType ); } catch ( ContractorException e ) { view.showError( "Error!" ); } }
I would like to know if the additional checks, etc., in my bookContractors() method are OK.
Both methods are called via the callback mechanism proposed by Mark and Eugene.
All help will be much appreciated.
Many Thanks
Jamie
[ June 09, 2003: Message edited by: Jamie Orme ]
[ June 09, 2003: Message edited by: Jamie Orme ]
[ June 09, 2003: Message edited by: Jamie Orme ]