Month: May 2018

Okay, so my server is currently running on Java and makes use of DataOutputStream and DataInputStream. And whilst I’m on a rewrite, I need to wrap those into C++.

Which I thought might be a tad difficult…

It turns out that Linux automatically handles UTF-8 strings out of the box, so sending and receiving string is of no consequence. Which was one of my main worries before I looked into everything else which slowed down the transition. Java’s DataOutputStream writes it UTF-16 strings as UTF-8 strings over the wire. That’s that problem solved.

The other problem was wrapping the socket connection. Sorted. Easily done by returning the error status on every call and handling the active status of the socket.

The last problem was wrapping the Java functions for sending a Long, Int, Byte, String, etc… These need to be in network byte order, which is not little endian. I’m just going through that now.

Oh yeah, encryption using a Cryptographic Secure Pseudo Random Number Generator. Done and implemented to match perfectly the Java version… For now.

So hopefully soon, I’ll be able to test run this wrapper ready for a production run.

“I feel almost like a god!”

To have my own software running in the cloud and being able to serve its purpose, ‘feels good’.

Yes, I’ve had one of those moments of personal successful achievements accomplished.

Or something like that.

Maybe things have plodded along at a gentle pace recently, but that’s also a good thing because it give me a chance to reflect back and get things back into perspective. Which I have done.

A few weeks ago I was ready to plough ahead with this. And then as I get stopped in my tracks, or more so, slowed down, I start to find a few more faults, cracks, bugs, etc. All fixed now.

Anyway, the server has now moved onto a VPS somewhere in the cloud which means better bandwidth speed than running from home. I’m still testing out the VPS and getting myself familiar with using it. Everything is via terminal so my previous Linux knowledge is becoming extremely useful here. Commands such as ‘rsync’ to copy files from my PC to the server for example. Now I need to create a way of restarting the server on demand.

The Java TCP server still has its minor issues, but it just works. Any problems I face I can just restart it and everything just carries on. Once it is securely setup on the VPS then I can leave it alone and work on the C++ server upgrade coding.

I won’t talk about the many other things that have happened around this project in the recent weeks apart from to say that it will be big. Fair enough, now I’m starting to feel the pressure is on me to come up with the C++ server code. Which I might actually continue with tomorrow after I figure out how to get my server software to automatically start on the VPS.

Everything will come to light, … in time.

“Follow your passion, not your paycheck. The money will come eventually.”