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Articles by Jefferson S. Motta
6 Months of Claude and Cursor, Part 3: When the Machine Starts Learning on Its Own
A skill became an artifact that the pipeline generates, archives and consults on its own. This is automation with supervision at the right points. Image generated with Gemini In Part 1, I wrote about building skills so the AI understands your project. In Part 2, the harder problem: writing a skill so the AI understands you. Part 3 is different.
6 Months of Claude and Cursor, Part 2: Teaching AI to Work with a Senior Engineer
As you progress in your AI journey, you’ll need to make your agents work for YOU, the individual you, with your strengths and shortcomings. Image generated with Gemini In Part 1, I wrote about building skills so the AI understands your project. Part 2 is a harder problem: building a skill so the AI understands you.
6 Months of Claude and Cursor, Part 1: Building Skills in Claude to Use with Cursor
With skills, you teach the AI to behave according to your project, your source code and the way you work. Let’s see this in Claude and Cursor. Image generated with AI In this post, I want to share an evolution in how I have been working with AI over the past six months, one that genuinely changed the way I use generative AI: skills. I’m not talking about human skills. I’m talking about instruction files. Many developers who use Cursor, Claude and other tools are already familiar with the concept.
The AI Agent Ate My Budget! Here Is What I Should Have Built Instead
Why deterministic automation may be the wisest investment you make before the token economy catches up with your credit card. In this post, I want to talk about a choice most teams are making without realizing it: delegating work to AI agents when they should be automating it deterministically, and the financial cliff that choice creates. Image generated with AI We are leaving the golden age of cheap tokens. The era where companies handed AI a blank check and called it innovation is ending.
Self-Knowledge with AI: The Greatest Investment a Developer Can Make
How a journal, a to-do list and an honest conversation with AI changed the way I see myself and the way I build software. In my technical accounting course back in the ’90s, there was a class on psychology. Out of everything I learned that semester, one phrase stayed with me until today: “Know thyself,” inscribed at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi and made eternal by Socrates.
The Importance of Empathy in Automation
To take AI beyond automation into true intelligence, we need to include empathy. In this post, I want to discuss a real danger we may face with AI agents, drawn from a specific interaction I witnessed on LinkedIn. Recently, on a post where someone was presenting ideas about “intelligent” AI agents, the author claimed that if a customer fails to pay a SaaS subscription, the system will block access, trigger an automatic charge and apply a late fee, all without any human intervention.
AI Is the Power Loom. And You? Are You the Weaver?
One senior developer shares his opinions about the ideas that AI is either a temporary trend or a final solution to all tech needs. In this post, I want to talk about a wave of resistance to artificial intelligence and why it reminds me of a pattern humanity has already seen. More than once. I have been reading many posts on social media arguing against the use of AI. Some are technically grounded. Others are just reactions, driven by the instinct to protect the status quo from the generative AI era.
What Really Matters for Dev Students
Get some practical advice for beginners based on a senior developer’s 30 years of experience. These fundamentals can help root you in a career ready for change. In this post, I share my perspective from 30 years of building systems, from MRP II in 1994 to AI-powered ecommerce solutions today. I’ve learned lessons that are worth their weight in gold. I see too many students focusing on things that don’t generate the expected impact, so I’ll be direct about what really matters.
How to Identify Technologies Worth Exploring
In this post, I share my perspective on one of the biggest challenges we face as technology professionals today: separating what really matters from the constant noise that bombards us every day. You’ve probably felt that anxiety of seeing new technologies blowing up on X/Twitter or LinkedIn and thinking, “Do I need to learn this now? Will I fall behind if I don’t?” This feeling of tech FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) is real and can be paralyzing.
Real-Time Security Dashboard with Telerik UI for WinForms
See how Telerik UI for WinForms components, like charts, maps, gauges and context menus, can easily compose a security monitoring dashboard. Omega Security Dashboard In this post, I will show you the app I built with a modern, responsive security surveillance using Progress Telerik UI for WinForms, demonstrating that desktop applications can have a contemporary appearance and functionality.
What Every Developer Should Learn ASAP in Their Personal Life
One developer shares life lessons gained throughout his career and shares the questions that can help you move ahead. At 17, I picked up my first book on Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP). Not because a mentor recommended it or out of philosophical curiosity, but because I wanted to understand how I worked and what I could become. I found the world meaningless and thought my problems were too big for me to handle.
Creating a T-SQL Query Generator Using Microsoft.Extensions.AI
Get smarter data insights from your own tables: The Microsoft.Extensions.AI package lets us create AI queries of MS-SQL databases. In this post, I’ll demonstrate a working solution for creating T-SQL queries using the Microsoft.Extensions.AI NuGet package based on the tables and columns from MS-SQL databases transforming the table structure into a system parameter for the AI to build Selects based on it. And it provides some insights about what to ask.
The Top 6 Things I’ve Learned from Developing with AI
In this post, I’ll discuss some things I’ve learned from developing with AI and explain them from my point of view, and how to get the best results using it. But first, let me share with you how I usually developed software before the internet, Google and AI assistants. The Beginning Before the internet existed, developers shared their source code via floppy disks.
Query Analyst with Semantic.Kernel
In this post, I’ll demonstrate Semantic.Kernel, an open-source AI SDK provided by Microsoft, which makes it easy to interact with large language models (LLMs) and their services. This post demonstrates a powerful console chat, based on the entire SQL Server database schema, which maintains the session and chat history, displaying the results of executed queries and allowing users to ask questions about the data.
Weather and Other Risks in the Development of Software
Learn from one developer’s experiences overcoming natural disasters to survive in a digital world. Environmental disasters threaten physical infrastructure, software development and business continuity in an interconnected digital world. In this post, I share my experience with environmental challenges over the last few years and how I have dealt with them. I encourage you to consider these issues in your own life.
Build Better Software
Creating role models in your mind can help you consider your digital product from new angles to better serve users. Image from Microsoft Copilot prompt In this post, I’ll discuss my experience building personas for my products and extending those personas to role models. Personas are a psychological term that describes how we construct mental profiles of individuals in our minds with their personalities. The role models are archetypal ideals that complement and motivate particular personas.
Reverse Engineering in Development
Reverse engineering is a practice of looking at a final product—real or imagined—and considering all the steps needed to create it in reverse. In this post, I share my experience with reverse engineering (RE), a fascinating technique that involves looking at an end product and rebuilding the process to achieve it backward, step by step. It’s like solving a complex puzzle. Disassembled physical objects can help you learn about their construction and operation.
Using Angular in Windows Forms Application
See how to use Kendo UI for Angular components in Telerik UI for WinForms applications to exchange communication and events. In this post, I’ll demonstrate how to use Progress Kendo UI for Angular components in Telerik UI for WinForms applications. You’ll learn the pitfalls and how to implement communication to Angular from WinForms and get back events from Angular. I’m sharing the complete source code, which is fully functional using Telerik UI, .NET 8 and Angular, on my GitHub.
Why Obey Programming Rules and New Coding Trends
In a field as dynamic as development, staying up to date on the latest best practices and trends can take effort. But keeping pace is easier than a massive overhaul later. In my programming life, I’ve changed paradigms many times. From programming for MS-DOS apps and switching to using events in Visual Basic 6 to object-oriented programming in C# and the web and other frameworks like React and Angular.
Componentization with Telerik
Designing with components allows you to sprint faster to meet your requirements and deliver consistency and quality. In this article, I’ll give you insights into my experience with software componentization, especially with Progress Telerik and Kendo UI products. The History of Software Componentization Let’s examine the history of software componentization to understand the whole concept. This strategy has a long history of developing software with reusable and independent components.
The Self-Service Revolution in a Digitally Transformed World
While technological innovations like self-service and electronic systems can significantly improve accessibility and efficiency, they can also present new user difficulties. Companies need to put UX and support first, to reinforce customer satisfaction. As a developer and a businessman, I understand the value of implementing more self-service in the customer service sector. As a consumer, I know that this puts more burden on me, especially when the system isn’t fully user tested.
10 Tips to Stay Young and Relevant in Tech
We become more experienced daily, but here are 10 tips to keep you relevant and desirable—coming from a career more than 30 years old. Image of my birthday cake in 2024. 1. Focus on Today Talking about the past and past achievements is for museums. Focus on the last 5 to 8 years of your work. What have you been doing in the previous decade? 2. The Past Is Behind You Talking about how interesting it was in “back in your day” can be fun for you, but only older adults do that.
Setting Up Telerik Reporting with Angular
In this post, I’ll walk you through creating your first Angular Report Viewer. Data will be accessed using a C# .NET 8 RESTful service, and queries will be conducted on Microsoft SQL Server. Let me start by talking about Telerik Reporting. About Telerik Reporting Progress Telerik Reporting is a tool that enables the creation, viewing and exporting of rich, interactive, reusable reports. It offers a REST service that allows us to generate reports in various formats, including PDF, Excel and HTML.
My Journey Empowering Users with Human-Centric Design
Human-centric design prioritizes the users’ needs and experiences. Hear one developer’s story of discovering how intuitive human-centric design can be. There is much talk nowadays about human-centric design (HCD) and what are the best techniques for implementing it. To help us achieve success, this article describes in practice all the pillars: Empathy, Definition, Ideation, Prototyping and Testing.
Mastering the Map in Telerik UI for ASP.NET AJAX
See how to use the Telerik UI for ASP.NET AJAX Map component to create a labeled map. Progress Telerik is a shining example of quality. They consistently make high-quality components that make our web apps look better and work smarter. Progress Telerik UI for ASP.NET AJAX stands out among component libraries, giving us the best tools for creating dynamic and visually stunning web experiences. Its components are sophisticated and reliable, with well-thought-out designs and robust functionality.
Using Smart AI Components with OpenAI API and MS Word
In this article, I want to share how to use Progress Telerik Smart AI components using a custom OpenAI key, replacing Azure OpenAI and Microsoft Word as Context to ChatGPT using a sample from Progress Telerik on GitHub. DALL-E image Success Case A briefing history about this solution test using Telerik Smart AI component: Before I started this article, I asked some lawyer friends to send me documents in DOCX and give me questions that a technical revisor would ask about them.
WinForms vs. .NET MAUI
One developer shares from his experiences with WinForms and .NET MAUI—what do you need to consider before migrating your legacy app? Technical decision-makers facing the challenge of migrating legacy systems from old .NET Framework 4.x WinForm apps face a common thread: whether to continue with traditional WinForms or something modern and promising, like .NET MAUI. I have done some migrations, and I’m sharing the main points I consider to help you navigate this challenge for your own apps.
WinForms vs. .NET MAUI
One developer shares from his experiences with WinForms and .NET MAUI—what do you need to consider before migrating your legacy app? Technical decision-makers facing the challenge of migrating legacy systems from old .NET Framework 4.x WinForm apps face a common thread: whether to continue with traditional WinForms or something modern and promising, like .NET MAUI. I have done some migrations, and I’m sharing the main points I consider to help you navigate this challenge for your own apps.
How to Write a Support Ticket That Gets a Prompt Response
These tips—based on years of experience on both ends of the support ticket—can help you get precisely what you need from software customer support. In this post, I’ll offer some suggestions for improving the performance of your support tickets—so you can get the response you need as quickly as possible.
Telerik Report Design with Blazor WebAssembly and REST API
In this post, I will show you how to use Telerik Reporting in design mode in a Blazor WebAssembly app. I will use Telerik UI for Blazor to walk you through the process. Start by learning about Progress Telerik Reporting and Telerik UI for Blazor and their benefits. What Is Telerik Reporting? Telerik Reporting is an all-in-one .NET embedded reporting tool that is light and easy to use. It was made for both web and desktop apps.
Create a WebAssembly App with Blazor + Google Authorization
In this article, I’ll guide you in creating a Blazor WebAssembly app with a login that uses Blazor’s native security and a Google account. The new template has integrated security and is EXTREMELY easy to set up. Following this guide, you will have your app using Blazor and Google Account in less than an hour. Start with Your Blazor App Start Visual Studio 2022 and start a new solution called Blazor WebAssembly Standalone App. See the image below.
How to Use Notifications in Telerik UI for ASP.NET Core
The Notification component in the Telerik UI for ASP.NET Core library makes adding, customizing and event-setting a snap. See how to make it your own. A Brief History of Notifications The evolution of web application notifications is a story unfolding alongside advancements in web technology and transformations in user experience paradigms. Initially, the web was a somewhat static realm where JavaScript alert boxes functioned as primitive notification tools.
How Telerik Transformed My Work & Why You Should Adopt It Too
How one development company CEO leveraged Progress Telerik for his business and customers, and why he thinks it can help your business too. I write this article as a deep admirer of Progress Telerik for its products, extraordinary graphical interfaces, high-performance Grids, document manipulation libraries, report editor, and an immense number of components for various languages and platforms, in addition to the quality of support and best of all: listening to its customers.
Email Confirmation with Telerik UI for ASP.NET Core Dialog
In this post, we’ll look at a feature often unnoticed: the ability to send emails immediately from a confirmation dialog. Today I’ll teach you how to design a confirmation dialog that asks for user approval and sends an email upon confirmation—all inside your ASP.NET Core app. This seamless connection of user interaction and backend processing improves the user experience and streamlines your program’s operation.
GitHub Copilot & Telerik ASP.NET Core for Enhanced Development
An experienced developer kicks the tires on GitHub Copilot for generating code with AI. See what he thinks and how it might work for you. GitHub Copilot revolutionizes coding as your AI pair programmer, helping you craft code faster and more effectively. It intuitively understands the context from your comments and code, swiftly suggesting individual lines and complete routines.
Add a Context Menu to Your Telerik UI for ASP.NET Core Grid
Context menus allow you to offer extra functionality and options to the end user of your application right where they are. Let’s see how to use one in the ASP.NET Core Grid. The context menu in the Progress Telerik UI for ASP.NET Core Grid is a welcome feature, making it possible for you to customize the user experience and create options that make sense for the data presented.
Telerik by Progress Experiência do Suporte
Foi minha primeira vez trabalhando com um framework completo como Telerik UI para WinForms e Telerik UI para ASP.NET AJAX. Atualmente, o Progress oferece vários frameworks, incluindo Kendo UI, .NET MAUI e Blazor. Por isso, demorou um pouco para entender a lógica utilizada. Então, as perguntas começaram a chegar. Vendo a documentação e demonstrações e o que era possível, me tornei um usuário hardcore do Telerik.
How Telerik Accelerates Dev for Non-Technical Decision-Makers
One of Progress Telerik DevCraft’s power users explains for non-technical folks what makes Telerik products work for the bottom line. Investing in technical tools is a critical strategic decision for an organization’s trajectory of success and innovation. When decision-makers choose development frameworks like Progress Telerik, they forge their teams for efficiency, long-term viability and alignment with industry leaders.
How to Toggle Between Light and Dark Modes in Blazor
Give your users a way to ease their eye strain or just set their preferences with this easy installation of a dark/light mode switch. Image created with Leonardo.ai In this post, I’ll demonstrate how to create a day/night (dark mode) button to add to your Blazor applications that automatically sets up according to the environment and changes when the user updates the mode on the environment. Dark mode has grown in popularity across various digital platforms and apps, and for good reason.
Uploading Files with Telerik UI for Blazor
For file uploads, Telerik UI for Blazor offers a powerful combination of ease-of-use and dependability, making it a fantastic solution for any Blazor developer. About Blazor Microsoft’s Blazor is an innovative web development framework developed as a component of the .NET ecosystem. This ecosystem is comprised of a wide variety of tools and libraries that are used in the process of creating software.
Using Telerik UI for Blazor Forms and TileLayout
The powerful TileLayout component from Telerik UI for Blazor allows you to build customizable dashboards for your users and save and restore a layout. Enhancing Web Applications Using Telerik UI for Blazor and C# Blazor is a cutting-edge framework designed for web application development using C# and Razor syntax.
ASP.NET Core/MVC Productivity Tools with Telerik
Whether you’re working with ASP.NET Core or ASP.NET MVC, Telerik can help you be more productive. See some of my favorite tools. Progress Telerik is a popular suite of user interface components and productivity tools that enhances the development process when used with ASP.NET Core and MVC. It integrates with tools like Visual Studio, Visual Studio Code and ReSharper.
Creating a Day/Night (Light/Dark Mode) WinForms Application
Learn how to implement dark mode in your desktop application with the Fluent Dark theme and Telerik UI for WinForms. Dark mode has become commonplace in applications nowadays. But have you implemented it in your desktop applications? It’s easy, and I’ll show you how to implement it with one class and a single command line call. I’ll be using Progress Telerik UI for WinForms. To implement the dark theme, I will use Fluent Dark, and for the day theme, Fluent.
Basic Themes and Customization in Telerik UI for Blazor
Telerik UI for Blazor makes it easy for you to tailor your app to your exact design specifications and in a variety of approaches. Learn more in this post. Progress Telerik UI for Blazor is a comprehensive library of native UI components designed to create visually stunning Blazor applications. Using the power of the latest .NET 7/8 (yet in preview), you can access Blazor’s unique capabilities.
How to Migrate Telerik UI for ASP.NET MVC to ASP.NET Core
If you’re already using Telerik UI for ASP.NET MVC and want to switch your project to ASP.NET Core, the steps to migrate are easier than you think. In this post, I will guide you in how to migrate a Telerik UI for MVC application to Telerik UI for ASP.NET Core. In a previous post, I demonstrated how to migrate any MVC application to Telerik UI for ASP.NET Core. So, if you need to become more familiar with Telerik, please look at that post.
Tag vs. HTML Helper
Learn how to use the HTML Helpers and Tag Helpers from Telerik UI for ASP.NET Core inside your JavaScript project with Kendo UI. It is easy to determine what Progress Telerik UI for ASP.NET Core is from its name. It is a component library for .NET web developers. But have you heard of Kendo UI? It is a valuable tool for web developers who need to create UI for their apps and it works seamlessly with ASP.NET Core.
5 Easy Steps to Migrate from ASP.NET MVC to ASP.NET Core
Learn the five easy steps to migrate your existing ASP.NET MVC .NET 4.x/5/6 to Telerik UI for ASP.NET Core 7. What is the Difference Between ASP.NET MVC and ASP.NET Core? ASP.NET MVC is a web application framework developed by Microsoft that implements the model-view-controller (MVC) pattern. It is an open-source framework used for creating web applications. It allows developers to build dynamic, scalable and secure web applications.
Fluent Theme Magic in Telerik UI for ASP.NET Core
Web, ASP.NET Core 0 Comments See how the Fluent theme compares to Material and Bootstrap in Telerik UI for ASP.NET Core. Maybe this theme is right for your next project? All Telerik UI frameworks offer themes and customization! Today we bring to your aim the Fluent theme for ASP.NET Core. I asked ChatGPT-3 about the history of Fluent Design: But its history started earlier with the Metro Design Language created for Windows 8 and Windows 8 Phone.
Best-in-Class ASP.NET Core Grid
Web, ASP.NET Core 0 Comments Meet the grid that’s powerful and flexible enough to meet all your needs for interacting with data while offering an intuitive, modern design for quick development of beautiful ASP.NET Core apps. The Progress Telerik UI for ASP.NET Core Grid is a powerful grid and flexible enough to meet all your needs for displaying data, editing, sorting, filtering and exporting.
TimeDurationPicker: A New Kendo UI for jQuery Component
Kendo UI for jQuery offers a new component that makes it easy for developers to work with time duration inputs—the TimeDurationPicker—with great UI and UX. Creating inputs for duration or intervals of days, hours, minutes, seconds and milliseconds—it’s a headache. But not anymore! Now Progress Kendo UI for jQuery delivers a new component that makes it easy for developers to work with duration inputs, all with great UI and UX—the TimeDurationPicker.
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