22 February 2018
10 Free Programming Books You Should Read This Year
19 October 2017
Some Truths About Computer Programming

Truths about Computer Programming
There are many confusions among common folks when it comes to computer programming. People from non-technical background don’t really understand what exactly is computer programming. There are memes allover the web regarding computer programmers being mistaken for a PC repair guy or someone who is a full-time nerd. But that’s not true. I myself being a computer programmer have some qualities which is contradictory to what stereotypes think about programmers/developers. Here is a curated list from different sources on the internet on some of the hilarious but true facts about computer programming.
- No one seems to remember the fact that a programmer is not a PC repair man.
- Programming is not typing, it’s about thinking of a solution to solve an existing problem. You don’t just go to your keyboard and start typing without a thought out solution, this is not the movies.
- Counting starts from zero, not one.
- You don’t need serious math skills to be a developer. However, you’ll need basic algebra, logic, strong problem-solving skills, and most of all, patience.
- You don’t need a degree to be a developer – programming is like almost any profession: if you’re good at it, people will pay you for your skills, regardless of how you got there.
- Sleeping with a problem, can actually solve it.
- If the implementation is hard to explain, it’s a bad idea. If the implementation is easy to explain, it may be a good idea.
- Software will have bugs. Hardware will have failures.
- There’s no such thing as a simple bug. A stupid mistake like leaving out a semi-colon or misspelling a variable name can easily take a week to find and fix and can cause significant loss of sleep.
- There are only a handful of truly critical programming concepts.
- You can spend 10 times longer debugging a program than you do writing it. So take your time typing and don’t make stupid typos.
- You can learn programming without the theory.
- Documentation and commenting are more of a survival tactic than niceness to whoever encounters it next.
- Programming can be addictive. I can’t go through an app or a game or a site without mentally visualizing what that code must look like.
- All those fancy algorithms that you studied in class, you may never get to code them in real life. They have all been abstracted into libraries.
- Programming is very rewarding. Most people feel great pride and satisfaction in some of their code. That’s weird to non-programmers, but when you put a lot of time, thought and effort into solving a problem, developing a great solution makes you happy.
Also read: Why Fidget Spinners Are Attractive?
And finally. Programming is real fun, but only when you “get it”. Programming is a super power. You can bend reality to your will with it. You can make the world a better place, or you can destroy it.
Conclusion
Hope you liked this article, please share it with your friends and subscribe my newsletter to stay tuned for latest updates on technology news and tips.14 May 2017
Gulp Quick Guide By VipTechWorld

Hello and Welcome to this quick Gulp.js guide. This guide can be used in many ways. You can start reading it from top to bottom or you can just choose the topic you want to learn and see that topic. So let's start...
Gulp - Overview
What is Gulp?
Gulp is a task runner that uses Node.js as a platform. Gulp purely uses the JavaScript code and helps to run front-end tasks and large-scale web applications. It builds system automated tasks like CSS and HTML minification, concatenating library files, and compiling the SASS files. These tasks can be run using Shell or Bash scripts on the command line.Why to use Gulp?
- It is shorter, simpler and faster as compared to other task runner.
- Uses SASS and LESS as CSS preprocessor.
- Automatically refreshes page after editing the source files.
- Easy to understand and build the Gulpfile.js because, it uses pure JavaScript code to build the task.
History
All the documentation of Gulp is covered by the CC0 license. Initially, Gulp v1.0.0 was released on January 15, 2015.Features
- Provides minification and concatenation.
- Uses pure JavaScript code.
- Converts LESS or SASS to CSS compilation.
- Manages file manipulation in the memory and enhances speed by using the Node.js platform.
Gulp - Installation
This article provides a step-by-step procedure of Gulp installation.System Requirements for Gulp
- Operating System − Cross-platform
- Browser Support − IE (Internet Explorer 8+), Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari, Opera
Installation of Gulp
Step 1 − We need Node.js to run Gulp examples.
To download Node.js, open the https://nodejs.org/en/, you will see a screen as shown below −

Download the latest features version of the zip file.
Step 2 − Next, run the setup to install the NodeJs on your computer.
Step 3 − You need to set environment variables.
Path User Variable
- Right-click on My Computer.
- Select Properties.
- Select Advanced tab and click ‘Environment Variables’.
- Under Environment Variables window, double-click on the PATH as shown in the following screen.
- You will get an Edit User Variable window as shown in the following screenshot. Add Node.js folder path in the Variable Value field as:
C:\Program Files\nodejs\node_modules\npmIf the path is set already for other files, then you need to put a semicolon (;) after that and add the Node.js path as shown in the following screenshot.
At the end, click the ‘Ok’ button. System Variable
- Under System variables, double-click on Path as shown in the following screen.
- You will get an Edit System Variable window as shown in the following screenshot. Add Node.js folder path in the Variable Value field as C:\Program Files\nodejs\ and click ‘Ok’ as shown in the following screenshot.

Step 4 − Open the command prompt in your system and enter the following command. It will display the installed Node.js version.
node -v

Step 5 − In the command prompt, enter the following command to display the version of npm (Node.js package manager) which is used to install modules. It will display the installed Node.js version.
npm -v

Step 6 − In the command prompt, enter the following command to install Gulp. Adding “-g” flag ensures that the Gulp is globally available for any project.
npm install gulp -g

Step 7 − To verify that Gulp has been installed successfully, enter the following command to display the Gulp version.
gulp -v

Gulp - Basics
In this section, you will get acquainted with some basics related to Gulp.What is a Build System?
A Build System is referred to as collection of tasks (collectively called as task runners), which automate the repetitive work.Following is a list of some of the tasks that can be handled using the build system −
- Compilation of preprocess CSS and JavaScript.
- Minification of files to reduce its size.
- Concatenation of files into one.
- Triggering the server for automatic reloading.
- Creation of deployment builds to store the resulting files in one location.
- Package managers
- Preprocessors
- Task runners and build tools
Package Managers
It is used to automate the installation upgrade, removal of required dependencies, clean libraries, and packages used in the development environment. Example for package managers are bower and npm.Preprocessors
Preprocessors are very useful for an efficient modern workflow by adding an optimized syntax and additional features that compiles into its native language.Some of the popular preprocessors are −
- CSS − SASS, LESS and Stylus.
- JS − CoffeeScript, LiveScript, TypeScript, etc.
- HTML − Markdown, HAML, Slim, Jade, etc.
Task Runners
Task runners automate tasks like SASS to CSS conversion, minify the files, optimize images, and many other tasks used in the development workflow. Gulp is one of the task runner in the modern front-end work environment and it runs on Node.Setting Up Your Project
To set your project in your computer, create a folder called “work” for example. The work folder contains following sub-folders and files −- Src − Location of pre-processed HTML source files and folders.
- Images − Contains images which are uncompressed.
- Scripts − Contains multiple pre-processed script files.
- Styles − Contains multiple pre-processed CSS files.
- Build − This folder will be created automatically which contains the production files.
- Images − Contains compressed images.
- Scripts − Single script file that contains minified codes.
- Styles − Single CSS file that contains minified codes.
- gulpfile.js − It is the configuration file, which is used to define our tasks.
Gulp - Developing An Application
In the previous sections, you have studied about Gulp installation and Gulp basics which includes build system of Gulp, package manager, task runner, structure of Gulp, etc.In this section, we will see the basics for developing an application, which includes the following −
- Declaring required dependencies
- Creating task for the dependencies
- Running the task
- Watching the task
- Dependencies Declaration
When you are installing plugins for the application, you need to specify dependencies for the plugins. The dependencies are handled by the package manager such as bower and npm.
Let's take one plugin called gulp-imagemin to define dependencies for it in the configuration file. This plugin can be used to compress the image file and can be installed using the following command line −
npm install gulp-imagemin --save-devYou can add dependencies to your configuration file as shown in the following code.
var imagemin = require('gulp-imagemin');
The above line includes the plug-in and it is included as an object named imagemin.Creating Task for Dependencies
Task enables a modular approach for configuring Gulp. We need to create a task for each dependency, which we would add up as we find and install other plugins. The Gulp task will have the following structure −gulp.task('task-name', function() {
//do stuff here
});
Where ‘task-name’ is a string name and ‘function()’ performs your task. The ‘gulp.task’ registers the function as a task within name and specifies the dependencies on other tasks.You can create the task for the above defined dependency as shown in the following code.
gulp.task('imagemin', function() {
var img_src = 'src/images/**/*', img_dest = 'build/images';
gulp.src(img_src)
.pipe(changed(img_dest))
.pipe(imagemin())
.pipe(gulp.dest(img_dest));
});
The images are located in src/images/**/* which is saved in the img_srcobject. It is piped to other function created by the imagemin constructor. It compresses the images from src folder and copied to build folder by calling dest method with an argument, which represents the target directory.Running the Task
Gulp file is set up and ready to execute. Use the following command in your project directory to run the task −gulp imageminOn running the task using the above command, you will see the following result in the command prompt −
C:\work>gulp imagemin [16:59:09] Using gulpfile C:\work\gulpfile.js [16:59:09] Starting 'imagemin'... [16:59:09] Finished 'imagemin' after 19 ms [16:59:09] gulp-imagemin: Minified 2 images (saved 80.81 kB - 16.9%)
Gulp - Combining Tasks
Task enables a modular approach to configure Gulp. We need to create task for each dependency, which we would add up as we find and install other plugins. The Gulp task will have following structure −gulp.task('task-name', function() {
//do stuff here
});
Where “task-name” is a string name and “function()” performs your task. The “gulp.task” registers the function as a task within the name and specifies the dependencies on other tasks.Installing Plugins
Let's take one plugin called minify-css to merge and minify all CSS scripts. It can be installed by using npm as shown in the following command −npm install gulp-minify-css --save-devTo work with “gulp-minify-css plugin”, you need to install another plugin called “gulp-autoprefixer” as shown in the following command −
npm install gulp-autoprefixer --save-devTo concatenate the CSS files, install the gulp-concat as shown in the following command −
npm install gulp-concat --save-devAfter installation of plugins, you need to write dependencies in your configuration file as follows −
var autoprefix = require('gulp-autoprefixer');
var minifyCSS = require('gulp-minify-css');
var concat = require('gulp-concat');
Adding Task to Gulp file
We need to create task for each dependency, which we would add up as we install the plugins. The Gulp task will have following structure −gulp.task('styles', function() {
gulp.src(['src/styles/*.css'])
.pipe(concat('styles.css'))
.pipe(autoprefix('last 2 versions'))
.pipe(minifyCSS())
.pipe(gulp.dest('build/styles/'));
});
The ‘concat’ plugin concatenates the CSS files and ‘autoprefix’ plugin indicates the current and the previous versions of all browsers. It minifies all CSS scripts from src folder and copies to the build folder by calling ‘dest’ method with an argument, which represents the target directory.To run the task, use the following command in your project directory −
gulp stylesSimilarly, we will use another plugin called ‘gulp-imagemin’ to compress the image file, which can be installed using the following command −
npm install gulp-imagemin --save-devYou can add dependencies to your configuration file using the following command −
var imagemin = require('gulp-imagemin');
You can create the task for above defined dependency as shown in the following code.gulp.task('imagemin', function() {
var img_src = 'src/images/**/*', img_dest = 'build/images';
gulp.src(img_src)
.pipe(changed(img_dest))
.pipe(imagemin())
.pipe(gulp.dest(img_dest));
});
The images are located in “src/images/**/*” which are saved in the img_srcobject. It is piped to other functions created by the ‘imagemin’ constructor. It compresses the images from src folder and copies to the build folder by calling ‘dest’ method with an argument, which represents the target directory.To run the task, use the following command in your project directory −
gulp imagemin
Combining Multiple Tasks
You can run multiple tasks at a time by creating default task in the configuration file as shown in the following code −gulp.task('default', ['imagemin', 'styles'], function() {
});
Gulp file is set up and ready to execute. Run the following command in your project directory to run the above combined tasks −gulpOn running the task using the above command, you will get the following result in the command prompt −
C:\work>gulp [16:08:51] Using gulpfile C:\work\gulpfile.js [16:08:51] Starting 'imagemin'... [16:08:51] Finished 'imagemin' after 20 ms [16:08:51] Starting 'styles'... [16:08:51] Finished 'styles' after 13 ms [16:08:51] Starting 'default'... [16:08:51] Finished 'default' after 6.13 ms [16:08:51] gulp-imagemin: Minified 0 images
Gulp - Watch
The Watch method is used to monitor your source files. When any changes to the source file is made, the watch will run an appropriate task. You can use the ‘default’ task to watch for changes to HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files.Update Default Task
In the previous section you have learnt how to gulp combining tasks using default task. We used gulp-minify-css, gulp-autoprefixer and gulp-concatplugins, and created styles task to minify CSS files.To watch CSS file, we need to update the ‘default’ task as shown in the following code:
gulp.task('default', ['styles'], function() {
// watch for CSS changes
gulp.watch('src/styles/*.css', function() {
// run styles upon changes
gulp.run('styles');
});
});
All the CSS files under work/src/styles/ folder will be watched and upon changes made to these files, the styles task will be executed.Run Default Task
Run the ‘default’ task using the following command.gulpAfter executing the above command, you will receive the following output.
C:\work>gulp [17:11:28] Using gulpfile C:\work\gulpfile.js [17:11:28] Starting 'styles'... [17:11:28] Finished 'styles' after 22 ms [17:11:28] Starting 'default'... [17:11:28] Finished 'default' after 21 msWhenever any changes are made to CSS files, you will receive the following output.
C:\work>gulp [17:11:28] Using gulpfile C:\work\gulpfile.js [17:11:28] Starting 'styles'... [17:11:28] Finished 'styles' after 22 ms [17:11:28] Starting 'default'... [17:11:28] Finished 'default' after 21 ms gulp.run() has been deprecated. Use task dependencies or gulp.watch task triggering instead. [17:18:46] Starting 'styles'... [17:18:46] Finished 'styles' after 5.1 msThe Watch process will remain active and respond to your changes. You can press Ctrl+Cto terminate the monitoring process and return to the command line.
Gulp - Live Reload
Live Reload specifies the changes in the file system. BrowserSync is used to watch all HTML and CSS files in the CSS directory and perform live reload to the page in all browsers, whenever files are changed. BrowserSync makes the workflow faster by synchronizing URLs, interactions, and code changes across multiple devices.Installing BrowserSync Plugin
The BrowserSync plugin provides cross-browser CSS injection and can be installed using the following command.npm install browser-sync --save-dev
Configuring BrowserSync Plugin
To use BrowserSync plugin, you need to write dependency in your configuration file as shown in the following command.var browserSync = require('browser-sync').create();
You need to create task for BrowserSync to work with server using Gulp. Since you are running server, so you need to tel BrowserSync about the root of your server. Here, we are using base directory as 'build'.gulp.task('browserSync', function() {
browserSync.init({
server: {
baseDir: 'build'
},
})
})
You can also inject new styles into the browser using the following task for CSS file.gulp.task('styles', function() {
gulp.src(['src/styles/*.css'])
.pipe(concat('style.css'))
.pipe(autoprefix('last 2 versions'))
.pipe(minifyCSS())
.pipe(gulp.dest('build/styles/'))
.pipe(browserSync.reload({
stream: true
}))
});
Before creating task for BrowserSync, you need to install the plugins using package manager and write dependencies in your configuration file as defined in this section.When you are done with the configuration, run both BrowserSync and watchTask for the occurrence of live reloading effect. Instead of running two command lines separately, we will run them together by adding browserSynctask along with the watchTask as shown in the following code.
gulp.task('default', ['browserSync', 'styles'], function (){
gulp.watch('src/styles/*.css', ['styles']);
});
Run the following command in your project directory to execute the above combined tasks.gulpAfter running the task using the above command, you will get the following result in the command prompt.
C:\project>gulp
[13:01:39] Using gulpfile C:\project\gulpfile.js
[13:01:39] Starting 'browserSync'...
[13:01:39] Finished 'browserSync' after 20 ms
[13:01:39] Starting 'styles'...
[13:01:39] Finished 'styles' after 21 ms
[13:01:39] Starting 'default'...
[13:01:39] Finished 'default' after 15 ms
[BS] 1 file changed (style.css)
[BS] Access URLs:
------------------------------------
Local: http://localhost:3000
External: http://192.168.1.4:3000
------------------------------------
UI: http://localhost:3001
UI External: http://192.168.1.4:3001
------------------------------------
[BS] Serving files from: build
It will open the browser window with the URL http://localhost:3000/. Any changes made to the CSS file will reflect in the command prompt and browser reloads automatically with the changed styles.Gulp - Optimizing CSS and JavaScript
In this section, you will learn how to optimize CSS and JavaScript. Optimizing is required to remove unnecessary data (for e.g. spaces and unused characters) from the source files. It reduces the size of the files and allows them to load fasterInstall Plugins to Optimize CSS and JavaScript
Go to “work” directory from your command line and install “gulp-uglify”, “gulp-minify-css” and “gulp-concat” plugins by using the following command −npm install gulp-uglify gulp-minify-css gulp-concat
Declare Dependencies and Create Tasks
In your configuration file gulpfile.js, first declare the dependencies as shown in the following code.var gulp = require('gulp');
var concat = require('gulp-concat');
var uglify = require('gulp-uglify');
var minify = require('gulp-minify-css');
Next, you need to create tasks for optimizing CSS and JavaScript as shown in the following code.gulp.task('js', function(){
gulp.src('src/scripts/*.js')
.pipe(concat('script.js'))
.pipe(uglify())
.pipe(gulp.dest('build/scripts/'));
});
gulp.task('css', function(){
gulp.src('src/styles/*.css')
.pipe(concat('styles.css'))
.pipe(minify())
.pipe(gulp.dest('build/styles/'));
});
gulp.task('default',['js','css'],function(){
});
The js task will accepts .js files from src/scripts/ folder. It concatenates and uglifies the js files, then produces build/scripts/script.js file.The CSS task will accept .css files from src/styles/ folder. It concatenates and minifies CSS files, then produces build/styles/styles.css file.
Run the Tasks
The configuration file is set up and ready to execute. Use the following command to run the task.gulpOn running the task using the above command, you will receive the following result in the command prompt.
C:\work>gulp [13:16:34] Using gulpfile C:\work\gulpfile.js [13:16:34] Starting 'js'... [13:16:34] Finished 'js' after 24 ms [13:16:34] Starting 'css'... [13:16:34] Finished 'css' after 6.05 ms [13:16:34] Starting 'default'... [13:16:34] Finished 'default' after 5.04 μs
Gulp - Optimizing Images
In this section, you will learn how to optimize images. Optimizing will reduce the size of the images and assist in faster loading.Install Plugins to Optimize Images
Go to “work” directory from your command line and install “gulp-changed” and “gulp-imagemin” plugins by using the following commands.npm install gulp-changed --save-dev npm install gulp-imagemin --save-dev
Declare Dependencies and Create Tasks
In your configuration file gulpfile.js, first declare the dependencies as shown in the following command.var gulp = require('gulp');
var changed = require('gulp-changed');
var imagemin = require('gulp-imagemin');
Next, you need to create tasks for optimizing images as shown in the following code.gulp.task('imagemin', function() {
var imgSrc = 'src/images/*.+(png|jpg|gif)',
imgDst = 'build/images';
gulp.src(imgSrc)
.pipe(changed(imgDst))
.pipe(imagemin())
.pipe(gulp.dest(imgDst));
});
gulp.task('default',['imagemin'],function(){
});
The imagemin task will accept png, jpg and gif images from src/images/ folder and minify them before writing it into the destination. The changed() ensures that only the new files are passed in each time for minifying. The gulp-changed plugin will only process the new files and hence utilized precious time.Run the Tasks
The configuration file is set up and ready to execute. Use the following command to run the task.gulpOn running the task using the above command, you will receive the following result in the command prompt.
C:\work>gulp [15:55:49] Using gulpfile C:\work\gulpfile.js [15:55:49] Starting 'imagemin'... [15:55:49] Finished 'imagemin' after 23 ms [15:55:49] Starting 'default'... [15:55:49] Finished 'default' after 23 μs [15:55:54] gulp-imagemin: Minified 1 images (saved 558.3 kB - 8.3%)
Gulp - Useful Plugins
Gulp provides some useful plugins to work with HTML & CSS, JavaScript, Graphics and some other things as described in the following tables.HTML & CSS Plugins
| Sr.No. | Plugin & Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | autoprefixer It automatically includes prefixes to CSS properties. |
| 2 | gulp-browser-sync It is used to watch all HTML and CSS files in the CSS directory and performs the live reload to the page in all browsers, whenever files are changed |
| 3 | gulp-useref It is used to replace references to non-optimized scripts or stylesheets. |
| 4 | gulp-email-design It creates HTML email templates which converts CSS styles to inline. |
| 5 | gulp-uncss It optimizes CSS files and finds unused and duplicated styles. |
| 6 | gulp-csso It is a CSS optimizer, which minimizes CSS files resulting in smaller file size. |
| 7 | gulp-htmlmin It minimizes HTML files. |
| 8 | gulp-csscomb It is used to make style formatter for CSS. |
| 9 | gulp-csslint It specifies a CSS linter. |
| 10 | gulp-htmlhint It specifies a HTML validator. |
JavaScript Plugins
| Sr.No. | Plugin & Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | gulp-autopolyfiller It is same like autoprefixer which includes necessary polyfills for JavaScript. |
| 2 | gulp-jsfmt It is used for searching specific code snippets. |
| 3 | gulp-jscs It is used to check JavaScript code style. |
| 4 | gulp-modernizr It specifies what HTML, CSS and JavaScript features the user's browser has to offer. |
| 5 | gulp-express It starts gulp express.js web server. |
| 6 | gulp-requirejs It uses require.js to combine require.js AMD modules into one file. |
| 7 | gulp-plato It generates complexity analysis reports. |
| 8 | gulp-complexity It analyzes the complexity and maintainability of code. |
| 9 | fixmyjs It fixes JSHint results. |
| 10 | gulp-jscpd It is used as copy/paste detector for source code. |
| 11 | gulp-jsonlint It is JSON validator. |
| 12 | gulp-uglify It minifies the JavaScript files. |
| 13 | gulp-concat It concatenates the CSS files. |
Unit Tests Plugins
| Sr.No. | Plugin & Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | gulp-nodeunit It runs node unit tests from Gulp. |
| 2 | gulp-jasmine It is used to report the issues related to the output. |
| 3 | gulp-qunit It provides basic console output for QUnit tests and uses PhantomJS node module and PhantomJS runner QUnit plugin. |
| 4 | gulp-mocha It specifies the thin wrapper around Mocha and runs the Mocha tests. |
| 5 | gulp-karma It has been deprecated in Gulp. |
Graphics Plugins
| Sr.No. | Plugin & Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | gulpicon It generates sprites from SVG and converts them to PNG. |
| 2 | gulp-iconfont It is used with web fonts to create WOFF, EOT, TTF files from SVG. |
| 3 | gulp-imacss It transforms image files into data URIs and places them into a single CSS file. |
| 4 | gulp-responsive It generates responsive images for different devices |
| 5 | gulp-sharp It is used to change and resize the orientation and background of the image. |
| 6 | gulp-svgstore It combines SVG files into one with <symbol> elements. |
| 7 | gulp-imagemin & gulp-tinypng It is used for compressing the images such as PNG, JPEG, GIF, SVG. |
| 8 | gulp-spritesmith It is used for creating spritesheet from set of images and CSS variables. |
Compilers Plugins
| Sr.No. | Plugin & Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | gulp-less It provides LESS plugin for Gulp. |
| 2 | gulp-sass It provides SASS plugin for Gulp. |
| 3 | gulp-compass It provides compass plugin for Gulp. |
| 4 | gulp-stylus It is used for keeping stylus in CSS. |
| 5 | gulp-coffee It provides coffeescript plugin for Gulp. |
| 6 | gulp-handlebars It provides handlebars plugin for Gulp. |
| 7 | gulp-jst It provides underscore templates in JST. |
| 8 | gulp-react It specifies Facebook React JSX templates into JavaScript. |
| 9 | gulp-nunjucks It specifies Nunjucks templates in JST. |
| 10 | gulp-dustjs It specifies Dust templates in JST. |
| 11 | gulp-angular-templatecache It specifies AngularJS templates in the templateCache. |
Other Plugins
| Sr.No. | Plugin & Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | gulp-grunt It runs the Grunt tasks from Gulp |
| 2 | gulp-watch It watches the files whenever changes are made. |
| 3 | gulp-notify It notifies the error message whenever a task fails. |
| 4 | gulp-git It allows to use Git commands. |
| 5 | gulp-jsdoc It creates JavaScript documentation for Gulp. |
| 6 | gulp-rev It provides static asset revisioning to file names. |
| 7 | gulp-bump It increases the versions in JSON package. |
| 8 | gulp-bower-files It is used to inject bower packages. |
| 9 | gulp-removelogs It removes console.log statements. |
| 10 | gulp-preprocess It preprocesses HTML, JavaScript and other files based on context or environment configuration. |
| 11 | gulp-duration It specifies the duration for Gulp tasks. |
| 12 | gulp-changed & gulp-newer It runs the modified files and newer files. |
| 13 | gulp-connect It is used to run a web server with LiveReload. |
| 14 | gulp-shell It runs Shell commands. |
| 15 | gulp-ssh It connects by using SSH and SFTP tasks. |
| 16 | gulp-zip It compresses the files and folders. |
| 17 | gulp-clean & gulp-copy |
| 18 | gulp-filesize It specifies the file size in human readable format. |
| 19 | gulp-util It provides utilities for gulp plugins. |
Gulp - Cleaning Unwanted Files
In this chapter, you will learn how to clean generated files. As we are automatically generating the files, make sure that unnecessary files should be deleted before running your build. This procedure is called cleaning. The del plugin can be used for this purpose.
Installing del Plugins
In your command line install the plugin by entering the following command.
npm install del --save-dev
Declare Dependencies and Create Tasks
In your configuration file gulpfile.js, declare the dependencies as shown in the following command.
var del = require('del');
Next, create a task as shown in the following code.
gulp.task('clean:build', function() {
return del.sync('build');
});
The above task will clean entire build. The clean task clears any image catches and removes any old files present in build.
It is possible to clean only specific file or folder and leave some of them untouched as illustrated in the following code.
gulp.task('clean:build', function() {
//return del.sync('build');
return del([
'build/temp/',
// instructs to clean temp folder
'!build/package.json'
// negate to instruct not to clean package.json file ]);
});
In the above task, only the temp folder will be cleaned leaving package.json untouched.
Last Words
Hope you liked this guide and learned something from it. Help me in spreading this knowledge by sharing it with your friends and relatives. Thanks!03 May 2017
C++ Language Quick Guide By VipTechWorld

Hello and Welcome to this quick C++ language guide. This guide can be used in many ways. You can start reading it from top to bottom or you can just choose the topic you want to study and see that topic. So let's start...
Intro:
C++ is a statically typed, compiled, general-purpose, case-sensitive, free-form programming language that supports procedural, object-oriented, and generic programming.C++ is regarded as a middle-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level and low-level language features.
C++ was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup starting in 1979 at Bell Labs in Murray Hill, New Jersey, as an enhancement to the C language and originally named C with Classes but later it was renamed C++ in 1983.
C++ is a superset of C, and that virtually any legal C program is a legal C++ program.
C++ Compiler:
This is actual C++ compiler, which will be used to compile your source code into final executable program.Most C++ compilers don't care what extension you give your source code, but if you don't specify otherwise, many will use .cpp by default
Most frequently used and free available compiler is GNU C/C++ compiler, otherwise you can have compilers either from HP or Solaris if you have respective Operating Systems.
C++ Program Structure:
Let us look at a simple code that would print the words Hello World.#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
// main() is where program execution begins.
int main()
{
cout << "Hello World"; // prints Hello World
return 0;
}
Comments in C++
C++ supports single line and multi-line comments. All characters available inside any comment are ignored by C++ compiler.C++ comments start with /* and end with */. For example:
/* This is a comment */ /* C++ comments can also * span multiple lines */
A comment can also start with //, extending to the end of the line. For example:
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
main()
{
cout << "Hello World"; // prints Hello World
return 0;
}
C++ Primitive Built-in Types:
C++ offer the programmer a rich assortment of built-in as well as user-defined data types. Following table list down seven basic C++ data types:| Type | Keyword |
|---|---|
| Boolean | bool |
| Character | char |
| Integer | int |
| Floating Point | float |
| Double Floating Point | double |
| Valueless | void |
| Wide Character | wchar_t |
Variable Definition & Initialization in C++:
Some examples are:extern int d, f // declaration of d and f int d = 3, f = 5; // definition and initializing d and f. byte z = 22; // definition and initializes z. char x = 'x'; // the variable x has the value 'x'.
C++ Variable Scope:
A scope is a region of the program and broadly speaking there are three places where variables can be declared:- Inside a function or a block which is called local variables,
- In the definition of function parameters which is called formal parameters.
- Outside of all functions which is called global variables.
C++ Constants/Literals:
Constants refer to fixed values that the program may not alter and they are called literals.
Constants can be of any of the basic data types and can be divided in Integer Numerals, Floating-Point Numerals, Characters, Strings and Boolean Values.
Again, constants are treated just like regular variables except that their values cannot be modified after their definition.
C++ Modifier Types:
C++ allows the char, int, and double data types to have modifiers preceding them. A modifier is used to alter the meaning of the base type so that it more precisely fits the needs of various situations.The data type modifiers are listed here:
- signed
- unsigned
- long
- short
The modifiers signed, unsigned, long, and short can be applied to integer base types. In addition, signed and unsigned can be applied to char, and long can be applied to double.
The modifiers signed and unsigned can also be used as prefix to long or short modifiers. For example unsigned long int.
C++ allows a shorthand notation for declaring unsigned, short, or long integers. You can simply use the word unsigned, short, or long, without the int. The int is implied. For example, the following two statements both declare unsigned integer variables.
unsigned x; unsigned int y;
Storage Classes in C++:
A storage class defines the scope (visibility) and life time of variables and/or functions within a C++ Program. These specifiers precede the type that they modify. There are following storage classes which can be used in a C++ Program- auto
- register
- static
- extern
- mutable
C++ Operators:
An operator is a symbol that tells the compiler to perform specific mathematical or logical manipulations. C++ is rich in built-in operators and provides following type of operators:Arithmetic Operators ( +, -, \, *, ++, --)
Relational Operators (==, !=, >. <, >=, <=)
Logical Operators (&&, ||, ! )
Bitwise Operators (& |, ^, ~, <<, >>)
Assignment Operators (=, +=, -=, *=, /=, %=, <<=, >>=, &=, ^=, |=)
Misc Operators ( sizeof, & cast, comma, conditional etc.)
C++ Loop Types:
C++ programming language provides the following types of loops to handle looping requirements.| Loop Type | Description |
|---|---|
| while loop | Repeats a statement or group of statements while a given condition is true. It tests the condition before executing the loop body. |
| for loop | Execute a sequence of statements multiple times and abbreviates the code that manages the loop variable. |
| do...while loop | Like a while statement, except that it tests the condition at the end of the loop body |
| nested loops | You can use one or more loop inside any another while, for or do..while loop. |
C++ Decision Making:
C++ programming language provides following types of decision making statements.| Statement | Description |
|---|---|
| if statement | An if statement consists of a boolean expression followed by one or more statements. |
| if...else statement | An if statement can be followed by an optional else statement, which executes when the boolean expression is false. |
| switch statement | A switch statement allows a variable to be tested for equality against a list of values. |
| nested if statements | You can use one if or else if statement inside another if or else if statement(s). |
| nested switch statements | You can use one swicth statement inside another switch statement(s). |
C++ Functions:
The general form of a C++ function definition is as follows:return_type function_name( parameter list )
{
body of the function
}
A C++ function definition consists of a function header and a function body. Here are all the parts of a function:
- Return Type: A function may return a value. The return_type is the data type of the value the function returns. Some functions perform the desired operations without returning a value. In this case, the return_type is the keyword void.
- Function Name: This is the actual name of the function. The function name and the parameter list together constitute the function signature.
- Parameters: A parameter is like a placeholder. When a function is invoked, you pass a value to the parameter. This value is referred to as actual parameter or argument. The parameter list refers to the type, order, and number of the parameters of a function. Parameters are optional; that is, a function may contain no parameters.
- Function Body: The function body contains a collection of statements that define what the function does.
Numbers in C++:
Following a simple example to show few of the mathematical operations on C++ numbers:#include <iostream>
#include <cmath>
using namespace std;
int main ()
{
// number definition:
short s = 10;
int i = -1000;
long l = 100000;
float f = 230.47;
double d = 200.374;
// mathematical operations;
cout << "sin(d) :" << sin(d) << endl;
cout << "abs(i) :" << abs(i) << endl;
cout << "floor(d) :" << floor(d) << endl;
cout << "sqrt(f) :" << sqrt(f) << endl;
cout << "pow( d, 2) :" << pow(d, 2) << endl;
return 0;
}
C++ Arrays:
Following is an example, which will show array declaration, assignment and accessing arrays in C++:#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
#include <iomanip>
using std::setw;
int main ()
{
int n[ 10 ]; // n is an array of 10 integers
// initialize elements of array n to 0
for ( int i = 0; i < 10; i++ )
{
n[ i ] = i + 100; // set element at location i to i + 100
}
cout << "Element" << setw( 13 ) << "Value" << endl;
// output each array element's value
for ( int j = 0; j < 10; j++ )
{
cout << setw( 7 )<< j << setw( 13 ) << n[ j ] << endl;
}
return 0;
}
C++ Strings:
C++ provides following two types of string representations:The C-style character string as follows:
char greeting[6] = {'H', 'e', 'l', 'l', 'o', '\0'};
The standard C++ library provides a string class type that supports all the operations mentioned above, additionally much more functionality. Following is the example:
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
using namespace std;
int main ()
{
string str1 = "Hello";
string str2 = "World";
string str3;
// copy str1 into str3
str3 = str1;
cout << "str3 : " << str3 << endl;
// concatenates str1 and str2
str3 = str1 + str2;
cout << "str1 + str2 : " << str3 << endl;
return 0;
}
C++ Classes & Objects
A class definition starts with the keyword class followed by the class name; and the class body, enclosed by a pair of curly braces. A class definition must be followed either by a semicolon or a list of declarations. For example we defined the Box data type using the keyword class as follows:class Box
{
public:
double length; // Length of a box
double breadth; // Breadth of a box
double height; // Height of a box
};
The keyword public determines the access attributes of the members of the class that follow it. A public member can be accessed from outside the class anywhere within the scope of the class object. You can also specify the members of a class as private or protected which we will discuss in a sub-section.
Define C++ Objects:
A class provides the blueprints for objects, so basically an object is created from a class. We declare objects of a class with exactly the same sort of declaration that we declare variables of basic types. Following statements declare two objects of class Box:Box Box1; // Declare Box1 of type Box Box Box2; // Declare Box2 of type Box
Both of the objects Box1 and Box2 will have their own copy of data members.
Accessing the Data Members:
The public data members of objects of a class can be accessed using the direct member access operator (.). Let us try following example to make the things clear:#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
class Box
{
public:
double length; // Length of a box
double breadth; // Breadth of a box
double height; // Height of a box
};
int main( )
{
Box Box1; // Declare Box1 of type Box
Box Box2; // Declare Box2 of type Box
double volume = 0.0; // Store the volume of a box here
// box 1 specification
Box1.height = 5.0;
Box1.length = 6.0;
Box1.breadth = 7.0;
// box 2 specification
Box2.height = 10.0;
Box2.length = 12.0;
Box2.breadth = 13.0;
// volume of box 1
volume = Box1.height * Box1.length * Box1.breadth;
cout << "Volume of Box1 : " << volume <<endl;
// volume of box 2
volume = Box2.height * Box2.length * Box2.breadth;
cout << "Volume of Box2 : " << volume <<endl;
return 0;
}
C++ Inheritance:
One of the most important concepts in object-oriented programming is that of inheritance. Inheritance allows us to define a class in terms of another class which makes it easier to create and maintain an application. This also provides an opportunity to reuse the code functionality and fast implementation time.When creating a class, instead of writing completely new data members and member functions, the programmer can designate that the new class should inherit the members of an existing class. This existing class is called the base class, and the new class is referred to as the derived class.
A class can be derived from more than one classes, which means it can inherit data and functions from multiple base classes. To define a derived class, we use a class derivation list to specify the base class(es). A class derivation list names one or more base classes and has the form:
class derived-class: access-specifier base-class
Where access-specifier is one of public, protected, or private, and base-class is the name of a previously defined class. If the access-specifier is not used, then it is private by default.
Consider a base class Shape and its derived class Rectangle as follows:
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
// Base class
class Shape
{
public:
void setWidth(int w)
{
width = w;
}
void setHeight(int h)
{
height = h;
}
protected:
int width;
int height;
};
// Derived class
class Rectangle: public Shape
{
public:
int getArea()
{
return (width * height);
}
};
int main(void)
{
Rectangle Rect;
Rect.setWidth(5);
Rect.setHeight(7);
// Print the area of the object.
cout << "Total area: " << Rect.getArea() << endl;
return 0;
}
C++ Overloading
C++ allows you to specify more than one definition for a function name or an operator in the same scope, which is called function overloading and operator overloading respectively.Following is the example where same function print() is being used to print different data types:
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
class printData
{
public:
void print(int i) {
cout << "Printing int: " << i << endl;
}
void print(double f) {
cout << "Printing float: " << f << endl;
}
void print(char* c) {
cout << "Printing character: " << c << endl;
}
};
int main(void)
{
printData pd;
// Call print to print integer
pd.print(5);
// Call print to print float
pd.print(500.263);
// Call print to print character
pd.print("Hello C++");
return 0;
}
Polymorphism in C++
C++ polymorphism means that a call to a member function will cause a different function to be executed depending on the type of object that invokes the function.Consider the following example where a base class has been derived by other two classes and area() method has been implemented by the two sub-classes with different implementation.
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
class Shape {
protected:
int width, height;
public:
Shape( int a=0, int b=0)
{
width = a;
height = b;
}
int area()
{
cout << "Parent class area :" <<endl;
return 0;
}
};
class Rectangle: public Shape{
public:
Rectangle( int a=0, int b=0)
{
Shape(a, b);
}
int area ()
{
cout << "Rectangle class area :" <<endl;
return (width * height);
}
};
class Triangle: public Shape{
public:
Triangle( int a=0, int b=0)
{
Shape(a, b);
}
int area ()
{
cout << "Triangle class area :" <<endl;
return (width * height / 2);
}
};
// Main function for the program
int main( )
{
Shape *shape;
Rectangle rec(10,7);
Triangle tri(10,5);
// store the address of Rectangle
shape = &rec;
// call rectangle area.
shape->area();
// store the address of Triangle
shape = &tri;
// call triangle area.
shape->area();
return 0;
}
The reason for the incorrect output is that the call of the function area() is being set once by the compiler as the version defined in the base class. This is called static resolution of the function call, or static linkage - the function call is fixed before the program is executed. This is also sometimes called early binding because the area() function is set during the compilation of the program.
But now, let's make a slight modification in our program and precede the declaration of area() in the Shape class with the keyword virtual so that it looks like this:
class Shape {
protected:
int width, height;
public:
Shape( int a=0, int b=0)
{
width = a;
height = b;
}
virtual int area()
{
cout << "Parent class area :" <<endl;
return 0;
}
};
After this slight modification, when the previous example code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:
Rectangle class area Triangle class area
Data Abstraction in C++:
Data abstraction refers to, providing only essential information to the outside word and hiding their background details ie. to represent the needed information in program without presenting the details.Data abstraction is a programming (and design) technique that relies on the separation of interface and implementation.
For example, in C++ we use classes to define our own abstract data types (ADT). You can use the cout object of class ostream to stream data to standard output like this:
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main()
{
cout << "Hello C++" <<endl;
return 0;
}
Here, you don't need to understand how cout displays the text on the user's screen. You need only know the public interface and the underlying implementation of cout is free to change.
Data Encapsulation in C++:
All C++ programs are composed of following two fundamental elements:Program statements (code): This is the part of a program that performs actions and they are called functions.
Program data: The data is the information of the program which affected by the program functions.
Encapsulation is an Object Oriented Programming concept that binds together the data and functions that manipulate the data, and that keeps both safe from outside interference and misuse. Data encapsulation led to the important OOP concept of data hiding.
C++ supports the properties of encapsulation and data hiding through the creation of user-defined types, called classes. We already have studied that a class can contain private, protected and public members. By default, all items defined in a class are private. For example:
class Box
{
public:
double getVolume(void)
{
return length * breadth * height;
}
private:
double length; // Length of a box
double breadth; // Breadth of a box
double height; // Height of a box
};
C++ Files and Streams:
The iostream standard library cin and cout methods for reading from standard input and writing to standard output respectively.To read and write from a file requires another standard C++ library called fstream which defines three new data types:
| Data Type | Description |
|---|---|
| ofstream | This data type represents the output file stream and is used to create files and to write information to files. |
| ifstream | This data type represents the input file stream and is used to read information from files. |
| fstream | This data type represents the file stream generally, and has the capabilities of both ofstream and ifstream which means it can create files, write information to files, and read information from files. |
Following is the C++ program, which opens a file in reading and writing mode. After writing information inputted by the user to a file named afile.dat, the program reads information from the file and outputs it onto the screen:
#include <fstream>
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main ()
{
char data[100];
// open a file in write mode.
ofstream outfile;
outfile.open("afile.dat");
cout << "Writing to the file" << endl;
cout << "Enter your name: ";
cin.getline(data, 100);
// write inputted data into the file.
outfile << data << endl;
cout << "Enter your age: ";
cin >> data;
cin.ignore();
// again write inputted data into the file.
outfile << data << endl;
// close the opened file.
outfile.close();
// open a file in read mode.
ifstream infile;
infile.open("afile.dat");
cout << "Reading from the file" << endl;
infile >> data;
// write the data at the screen.
cout << data << endl;
// again read the data from the file and display it.
infile >> data;
cout << data << endl;
// close the opened file.
infile.close();
return 0;
}
Last Words
This Quick C++ Language Guide ends here but I hope that you will not stop here and work hard and hard to become a sucessful C++ programmer.If this article helped you in any way then please give me gift of my hardwork by sharing this guide with your friends on facebook, twitter, instagram, ycombinator, pinterest etc using the share buttons below.
- Thanks, TheVip
23 March 2017
Javascript Vs. Css : Which is best for animation?

CSS is perfectly suited for hover state animations (turning a link blue when
the mouse is positioned over it, for example), which are very often the extent to which
basic web pages include animation. CSS transitions fit seamlessly into existing stylesheets,
allowing developers to avoid bloating their pages with unnecessary JavaScript libraries.
What’s more, CSS animation delivers blazing performance out of the box.
But there’s a false belief in the web development community that CSS animation is the only
performant way to animate on the web. This misconception has led many developers to
abandon JavaScript-based animation altogether, forcing them to
- Manage the entirety of user interface (UI) interaction within style sheets, which can
quickly become difficult to maintain. - Sacrifice real-time animation timing control, which is achievable only within
JavaScript. (Timing control is necessary for designing animation into UIs that
respond to a user’s drag input, like those found in mobile apps.) - Forgo physics-based motion design, which allows elements on a webpage to behave
like objects in the real world. - Lose support for older browser versions, which remain popular throughout the
world.
A javascript-based animation is actually often as fast as CSS-based animation. CSS animation is mistakenly considered to have a significant leg up because it’s most often
compared to jQuery’s animation features, which are in fact very slow. However,
alternative JavaScript animation libraries that bypass jQuery entirely deliver fantastic
performance by streamlining their interaction with a page.
JavaScript Vs. Jquery Animations
Most of the time JavaScript and jQuery are falsely conflated. In reality, JavaScript animation is fast. jQuery slows it
down. Despite jQuery being tremendously powerful, it wasn’t designed to be a high-
performance animation engine. It has no mechanism to avoid “layout thrashing,” in which
a browser becomes overtasked with layout processing work while it’s in the process of
animating.

Further, because jQuery’s code base serves many purposes beyond animation, its
memory consumption triggers garbage collections within the browser, causing animations
to stutter unpredictably. Lastly, due to decisions made by the jQuery team in the noble pursuit of helping novice users avoid sabotaging their UI with bad code, jQuery forgoes
the recommended practice of using the requestAnimationFrame function, which
browsers make available to drastically improve frame rates for web animation.
Why Use Javascript?
Speed is, of course, not the only reason to use JavaScript—its abundance of features is
equally as important. A few of the notable animation features that are
exclusive to JavaScript are,
Page scrolling
Page scrolling is one of the most popular uses for JavaScript-based animation. A recenttrend in web design is to create long web pages that animate new pieces of content into
view as the page is scrolled down.
JavaScript animation libraries, such as Velocity, provide awesome support for this.
Animation Reversal
Animation reversal is a useful shorthand for undoing an element’s previous animation. Byinvoking the reverse command, you’re instructing an element to animate back to its values
prior to its last animation. A common use for reversal is animating a modal dialogue into
view, then hiding it when the user presses to close it.
Physics-based motion
The utility of physics in motion design reflects the core principle of what makes for agreat user experience (UX) on your site: interfaces that flow naturally from the user’s
input. Put another way, interfaces that pay tribute to how objects move in the real world.
Wrapping up
When designing animations in CSS, you’re inherently limited to the features that the CSSspecification provides. In JavaScript, because of the very nature of programming
languages, third-party libraries have an infinite amount of logical control over motion
design. Animation engines leverage this to provide powerful features that drastically
improve workflow and expand the possibilities of interactive motion design.
This was a pretty long article, hope you enjoyed reading it. What type of animations do you like to use? Tell in the comments below.









