Articles written by Mark Alexander Bain

The Haxe programming language is simple, fast and multi-platform. The same piece of object oriented code may be compiled into C++, Javascript, PHP or Flash

Feb 19, 2011 - Mark Alexander Bain

All websites consist of text and images which may lead the user to passively absorb some of the information. However, Javascript can improve that experience

Feb 10, 2011 - Mark Alexander Bain

An on line form can make processes such as college applications very efficient and will ensure that important pieces of information are stored in a database

Feb 9, 2011 - Mark Alexander Bain

Web pages don't have to be static. In fact, they're not. There are a number of events set off by users that can be captured by Javascript.

Jan 9, 2011 - Mark Alexander Bain

On most web sites it is the server that does all of the work. However, it is possible to spread the load to client computers by combining AJAX and JSON

Jan 3, 2011 - Mark Alexander Bain

JSON and web (or dom) storage enable a developer to create a web application that is able to work with, and to store, structured data on a client computer.

Jan 3, 2011 - Mark Alexander Bain

With the introduction of HTML5 web browsers it is now possible for Javascript code to interact directly with the data stored in a database stored on PC.

Nov 13, 2010 - Mark Alexander Bain

With Oracle 10g Express Edition professional level databases are no longer the domain of large companies and institutions. Oracle is now available for free

Nov 6, 2010 - Mark Alexander Bain

November is now Movember as men around the world try to help reduce their one in six chance of getting prostate cancer by growing a moustache.

Nov 1, 2010 - Mark Alexander Bain

Christmas comes but once a year. As does: Halloween; Easter; Thanksgiving. And it's nice to have a web site theme for those times - without extra work

Oct 30, 2010 - Mark Alexander Bain

No-one searches on the Internet any more - they Google. And Google is about to have a new meaning as a programming language with the introduction of Go!

Sep 25, 2010 - Mark Alexander Bain

In this article Mark Alexander Bain proposes the use of pipes. Not for smoking of course, but to improve the structure of scripting files.

Sep 18, 2010 - Mark Alexander Bain

Is an IP address a number or a string. In this article Mark Alexander Bain explores a possible solution to that question for database designers.

Sep 11, 2010 - Mark Alexander Bain

C is a fast and powerful programming language. However, the unwary programmer may find their program produces some unexpected results. Find out why.

Aug 15, 2010 - Mark Alexander Bain

C programming is widespread and very powerful due to the easy in which a programmer can add new functionality. This tutorial explains how create a function

Aug 8, 2010 - Mark Alexander Bain

C programming can be done on any operating system. So, it can be used on anything from a Windows computer to a mobile phone. Start with this simple tutorial

Aug 7, 2010 - Mark Alexander Bain

"St Swithin's day if thou dost rain for forty days it will remain; St Swithin's day if thou be fair for forty days 'twill rain no more." Or will it?

Jul 15, 2010 - Mark Alexander Bain

A recent news release provides a solution to an age old problem and proves Genesis correct. Or does it? Look behind the headlines to see the real story.

Jul 15, 2010 - Mark Alexander Bain

Religion has become a major issue in a UK swimming pool.

Jul 14, 2010 - Mark Alexander Bain

A recent Eastenders plot causes a storm of protests from Christians after an attack on their faith. However, is that the full story?

Jul 14, 2010 - Mark Alexander Bain

A simple tutorial showing how to include libraries in a Processing application and how to create functioning buttons that the users can press

Jul 13, 2010 - Mark Alexander Bain

This tutorial shows that Processing is a wonderful programming language for creating visual applications. It's free, open source and easy to use.

Jul 13, 2010 - Mark Alexander Bain

Facebook applications are powerful and used by millions of people. However, there have been growing concerns on how easy it is to find personal information

Jul 5, 2010 - Mark Alexander Bain

The need to create a science lesson plan adds to the amount of work that every teacher needs to do. However, Linux scripting can help automate this task.

Jul 4, 2010 - Mark Alexander Bain

With just a few lines of JavaScript code it is possible to turn a static image into a looping gallery of pictures.

Jun 23, 2010 - Mark Alexander Bain

Every good writer continually works at their productivity and the quality of their writing. A few simple, but effective, Linux command line tools will help.

Jun 22, 2010 - Mark Alexander Bain

The Holocene Calendar doesn't use the birth date of an individual man as its starting point. It used the birth of Human Civilization.

Jun 21, 2010 - Mark Alexander Bain

A VB developer may decide to tell their uses how to cut and paste URLs into web browsers or they may build a web browser into their application.

May 9, 2010 - Mark Alexander Bain

Portable Document Format files provide important stand alone content for web sites. However, they can also be incorporated into web pages

May 8, 2010 - Mark Alexander Bain

Create a simple 3D application with Pand3D's SDK and the Python programming language. Make this the first step in becoming a games programmer

Mar 15, 2010 - Mark Alexander Bain

Cascading style sheet are a vital part of every web site, but it's not possible to define variables in them. This is unless, of course, the CSS is written in PHP

Feb 6, 2010 - Mark Alexander Bain

This article dispels an old HTML myth. It shows, quite simply, how to display text vertically in a web page and in any browser - Internet Explorer or firefox.

Dec 31, 2009 - Mark Alexander Bain

The technology behind AJAX is not new. It is standard Javascript. However, this simple technique can be used to create amazing web sites.

Dec 7, 2009 - Mark Alexander Bain

An Internet application administrator can obtain information from new users and then create account for them, or they can use PHP code to do it all automatically

Nov 14, 2009 - Mark Alexander Bain

The right image improves the look and feel of any Windows based game. However, it is essential that any sprites remain in the correct games area, and don't wander off

Oct 18, 2009 - Mark Alexander Bain

The setTimeout enables a web site programmer to create animations simply and easily. They can create an impressive slide show show with just a little Javascript coding

Sep 30, 2009 - Mark Alexander Bain

The Sinclair ZX81 Emulator was state of the art in the early 1980's but how does it stand up to the passage of time? The easy way to find out is to use an emulator

Sep 29, 2009 - Mark Alexander Bain

Network problems can be infuriating for Internet users. However, there are simple command line methods that help a programmer to find why their applications run slowly

Sep 28, 2009 - Mark Alexander Bain

AJAX is a powerful technique but requires data in order to work correctly. However, the programmer can develop and test an application using dummy data from static sites.

Sep 27, 2009 - Mark Alexander Bain

VBScript is a powerful scripting language and supports object oriented languages. It is, therefore, an excellent learning tool for anyone new to OOP or games programming

Sep 26, 2009 - Mark Alexander Bain

Object oriented programming is an important concept for any programmer. However, the new programmer needs to consider which is the better language to learn on.

Sep 25, 2009 - Mark Alexander Bain

A programmer can create simple, but effective, games for web browsers by using Javascript. A job that's made even easier by using object oriented programming

Sep 24, 2009 - Mark Alexander Bain

The position of the mouse is important in many web based games, and it can easy be found by using some simple Javascript code. It even takes account of different browsers

Sep 23, 2009 - Mark Alexander Bain

VBScript Ubound d can be used to get the number of elements in a multidimensional array. However, the number of dimensions must be known. A simple function will help

Sep 22, 2009 - Mark Alexander Bain

Methods are a vital part of any class. They enable programmers to use the objects effectively, and for objects to communicate with each other.

Sep 20, 2009 - Mark Alexander Bain

The Sauerbraten Cube 2 games engine allows programmers to modify maps by using its GUI and CubeScript code. And that's all done while a game is running

Sep 19, 2009 - Mark Alexander Bain

Programming languages can do strange things with numbers. Not because they've done anything wrong. It's just that not all numbers are the same. It's all to do with memory

Sep 18, 2009 - Mark Alexander Bain

A VBScript programmer can use multidimensional arrays in their applications. By using these they organize their data into lists, rectangles or even into a matrix

Sep 17, 2009 - Mark Alexander Bain

Object-oriented design is an important technique because it enables the programmer abstract information from existing objects and for classes to inherit characteristics

Sep 15, 2009 - Mark Alexander Bain

Fancy graphics and involved plot do not always produce a popular game. A lot be achieved with simple graphics, and the starting point for any Java applet is some text

Sep 10, 2009 - Mark Alexander Bain