Featured Insights

Transformative Ideas for Leaders in the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Featured image for “Embracing EQ in UX: A New Era for the Philippines National Skills Framework”

Article

Embracing EQ in UX: A New Era for the Philippines National Skills Framework >

February 7, 2024 - Key Insights Introduction The Philippines has long stood as a bastion of warmth and understanding,...
Featured image for “Transforming Tech Talent: Philippines Introduces Game-Changing National Skills Framework for IT Excellence”

Article

Transforming Tech Talent: Philippines Introduces Game-Changing National Skills Framework for IT Excellence >

February 1, 2024 - In today’s rapidly advancing technological world, the gap between academic learning and industry requirements in...
Featured image for “Steps to Good User Experience”

Article

Steps to Good User Experience >

January 18, 2024 - In our fifth week working on a coffee shop application as O&B’s Software Engineer Interns,...
Featured image for “Unlocking Business Value: How Efficient Cloud Computing Reduces Energy Costs”

Article

Unlocking Business Value: How Efficient Cloud Computing Reduces Energy Costs >

December 7, 2023 - Key Takeaways: In today’s era, where technology is an indisputable driver of change, organizations globally...
Featured image for “Maya: Accelerated Delivery: Growing from a team of 3 to a team of 40 through leading software delivery by example”

Case Study

Maya: Accelerated Delivery: Growing from a team of 3 to a team of 40 through leading software delivery by example >

December 7, 2023 - As a software consultant company, we take pride in being champions of continuous improvement and...
Featured image for “AI Insights: Is Healthcare Jumping on the AI Train?”

Article

AI Insights: Is Healthcare Jumping on the AI Train? >

December 7, 2023 - Are organizations unlocking the potential of generative AI to transform healthcare or is it simply...
Featured image for “Redefining Enterprise Web Scalability: O&B’s Containerization Strategy for PJ Lhuillier’s Kanegosyo Center Microfinance Portal”

Case Study

Redefining Enterprise Web Scalability: O&B’s Containerization Strategy for PJ Lhuillier’s Kanegosyo Center Microfinance Portal >

December 7, 2023 - Key Takeaways In the ever-evolving world of web development, adapting to new technologies and methodologies...
Featured image for “Breaking Barriers and Empowering Women in Tech: Inspiring Stories and Advice”

Interview

Breaking Barriers and Empowering Women in Tech: Inspiring Stories and Advice >

December 4, 2023 - In the rapidly evolving landscape of the tech industry, women have not only navigated challenges...
Featured image for “Integrated Testing with Spring Mock MVC, Test Containers, and Gradle”

Article

Integrated Testing with Spring Mock MVC, Test Containers, and Gradle >

April 12, 2022 - Calen presented a webinar on Integration Testing as part of PSIA’s advocacy for the upskilling...
Featured image for “An Introduction to the Raspberry Pi”

Article

An Introduction to the Raspberry Pi >

September 7, 2021 - Outline What is a Raspberry Pi? The Raspberry Pi is a low-cost, credit card-sized (or...
Featured image for “Face to Face (Client Interaction)”

Article

Face to Face (Client Interaction) >

August 24, 2021 - I’m Justin and I work as a Quality Engineer for O&B. I have been given...
Featured image for “DbUnit FlatXmlDataSet – How to Ignore DTD”

Article

DbUnit FlatXmlDataSet – How to Ignore DTD >

August 19, 2021 - A quick tutorial on DbUnit FlatXmlDataSet. I started out trying to use DbUnit FlatXmlDataSet without...
Featured image for “Agile Myth #7: Agile Means No Documentation”

Article

Agile Myth #7: Agile Means No Documentation >

August 12, 2021 - This is Calen’s eight post in a 13-part series, “Agile Myths and Misconceptions” where he strives to...
Featured image for “Agile Myth #6: Agile Means No Upfront Design”

Article

Agile Myth #6: Agile Means No Upfront Design >

July 15, 2021 - This is Calen’s seventh post in a 13-part series, “Agile Myths and Misconceptions” where he strives to...
Featured image for “Agile Myth #5: Agile is Unpredictable”

Article

Agile Myth #5: Agile is Unpredictable >

July 8, 2021 - This is Calen’s sixth post in a 13-part series, “Agile Myths and Misconceptions” where he strives to...
Featured image for “Agile Myth #4: Agile Cannot Work with Fixed Budgets”

Article

Agile Myth #4: Agile Cannot Work with Fixed Budgets >

July 1, 2021 - This is my fifth post in my 13-part series, “Agile Myths and Misconceptions”, It’s based...
Featured image for “Changing The Way We Use JPA”

Article

Changing The Way We Use JPA >

June 24, 2021 - I’ve been updating some training materials recently, and thinking about better ways of teaching and...
Featured image for “Agile Myth #3: Agile is Short Milestones”

Article

Agile Myth #3: Agile is Short Milestones >

June 17, 2021 - This is Calen’s fourth post in a 13-part series, “Agile Myths and Misconceptions” where he strives to...
Featured image for “Agile Myth #2: Agile is Just About Project Management”

Article

Agile Myth #2: Agile is Just About Project Management >

June 10, 2021 - This is part of a series where Calen will discuss twelve common myths about Agile...
Featured image for “Agile Myth #1: Agile is a Methodology”

Article

Agile Myth #1: Agile is a Methodology >

June 3, 2021 - Calen discusses why he thinks Agile itself is not a process. Rather, Agile is the...
Featured image for “Agile Myths & Misconceptions”

Article

Agile Myths & Misconceptions >

May 27, 2021 - I spoke at SofTech, the Philippine Software Industry Association’s first Software Engineering conference. We had...
Featured image for “Foreign Keys – What Do You Think?”

Article

Foreign Keys – What Do You Think? >

May 5, 2021 - Join the discussion about the pros and cons of using Foreign Keys One of my...
Featured image for “Template Method Pattern Example Using Java Generics”

Article

Template Method Pattern Example Using Java Generics >

April 29, 2021 - A tutorial on how to use the Template Method to eliminate error-prone code duplication. If...
Featured image for “Feedback: Giving, Seeking, and Receiving”

Article

Feedback: Giving, Seeking, and Receiving >

April 22, 2021 - In managing software projects, feedback is critical. Here are some helpful notes on giving feedback...
Featured image for “Top Three Missing Pieces with Startup Pitches I’ve Seen”

Article

Top Three Missing Pieces with Startup Pitches I’ve Seen >

April 15, 2021 - Calen shares pitching advice for technopreneurs and hackathon participants. This article explains the top three...
Featured image for “The Perks of a Jupyter Notebook”

Article

The Perks of a Jupyter Notebook >

March 25, 2021 - Some of us scream Eureka! and others immediately pass out, but when the code finally works and...
Featured image for “AWS Certification Story Part2”

Article

AWS Certification Story Part2 >

March 18, 2021 - Hello everyone! In my previous blog post, I basically wrote a small primer on Cloud Computing....
Featured image for “Creating Great First Impressions in the Time of COVID”

Article

Creating Great First Impressions in the Time of COVID >

March 11, 2021 - Before the COVID19 era, walking into an interviewer’s office demanded a lot from you. Back...
Featured image for “AWS Certification Story Part1”

Article

AWS Certification Story Part1 >

March 4, 2021 - The following post is based on the talk I did for one of our weekly S.K.I.L.L...
Featured image for “Basic Image Editing with GIMP – (Part 2)”

Article

Basic Image Editing with GIMP – (Part 2) >

February 25, 2021 - In part 1, we learned about what GIMP is, its commonly used windows, and how to...
Featured image for “Basic Image Editing with GIMP – (Part 1)”

Article

Basic Image Editing with GIMP – (Part 1) >

February 18, 2021 - Have you ever wondered how to use GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) for your image...
Featured image for “Dependency Injection With Java SPI”

Article

Dependency Injection With Java SPI >

February 9, 2021 - In the modern scene of Java, applications can be written quickly thanks to many third-party...
Featured image for “TypeScript: An Introduction”

Article

TypeScript: An Introduction >

February 2, 2021 - What is TypeScript? In a nutshell, it is simply JavaScript… but with types! According to typescriptlang.org, it...
Featured image for “Reduce Repetitive Code in Spring MVC Controllers”

Article

Reduce Repetitive Code in Spring MVC Controllers >

September 17, 2020 - After spending some time doing sustained engineering (a.k.a. maintaining legacy code), I ventured to reduce...
Featured image for “JasperReports: The Tricky Parts”

Article

JasperReports: The Tricky Parts >

February 27, 2018 - If you have been programming in Java long enough, chances are you needed to generate...
Featured image for “DataSource Routing with Spring @Transactional”

Article

DataSource Routing with Spring @Transactional >

February 13, 2018 - I was inspired by Carl Papa’s use of aspects with the Spring Framework to determine...
Featured image for “How not to use Java 8 Streams”

Article

How not to use Java 8 Streams >

January 24, 2018 - Now (it’s been years) that Java has gotten functional programming syntax, it can be pretty...
Featured image for “Eclipselink 2.5.2 (JPA 2.1.0): Determining Fetch State”

Article

Eclipselink 2.5.2 (JPA 2.1.0): Determining Fetch State >

December 21, 2017 - This discussion made use of JPA 2.1.0 and Eclipselink 2.5.2. Specs and implementation and may change in future releases....
Featured image for “Bills Payment Collection: Teller’s Perspective”

Article

Bills Payment Collection: Teller’s Perspective >

December 6, 2017 - Typical Scenario in the World of Bills Payment Mr. Postman approaches a residential gate and...
Featured image for “Isolating the Domain Logic”

Article

Isolating the Domain Logic >

January 4, 2017 - Lorenzo explains the reason why code in applications is arranged and split in a certain...
Featured image for “Architectural Layers and Modeling Domain Logic”

Article

Architectural Layers and Modeling Domain Logic >

November 14, 2016 - Lorenzo corrects the impression that the domain model pattern is always the best to use....
Featured image for “JPA Pitfalls / Mistakes”

Article

JPA Pitfalls / Mistakes >

September 13, 2016 - Learn the common pitfalls/mistakes encountered that caused some problems in Java-based systems that use JPA....
Featured image for “Spring-managed Transactions Explained – Part 1 (JDBC)”

Article

Spring-managed Transactions Explained – Part 1 (JDBC) >

September 13, 2016 - Learn how transactions work in plain-vanilla JDBC and how Spring manages JDBC-based transactions. I’ve been...
Featured image for “Blob Handling in Java and JDBC”

Article

Blob Handling in Java and JDBC >

October 5, 2015 - Lorenzo simplifies BLOB handling. Read on to find out how. Whenever I search the web...
Featured image for “Effective Design Patterns and Poetry”

Article

Effective Design Patterns and Poetry >

July 19, 2015 - Lorenzo tries to make design patterns principles easy to remember through poetry. In one of...
Featured image for “Top 3 Improvements New Agile Teams Can Make”

Article

Top 3 Improvements New Agile Teams Can Make >

December 17, 2014 - If you’re new to Agile, here are three things to keep in mind to build...
Featured image for “Purpose of SOA”

Article

Purpose of SOA >

October 2, 2014 - An overview of Service-Oriented Architecture, including benefits, concepts, and limitations. After having a few more...
Featured image for “Using Git & GitHub to Manage a Class”

Article

Using Git & GitHub to Manage a Class >

October 2, 2014 - Calen tells us about the advantages of using Git and GitHub for his classes at...
Featured image for “Domain-Driven Design: Cargo Shipping Example (Part 2)”

Article

Domain-Driven Design: Cargo Shipping Example (Part 2) >

September 30, 2014 - Lorenzo continues the discussion on DDD, this time with a focus on persistence of value...
Featured image for “Domain-Driven Design: Cargo Shipping Example”

Article

Domain-Driven Design: Cargo Shipping Example >

September 14, 2014 - Lorenzo discusses DDD using a cargo shipping scenario. I’ve always found the cargo shipping example used in Eric...
Featured image for “Jollibee #ChickenSad – An IT Management Case Study”

Article

Jollibee #ChickenSad – An IT Management Case Study >

August 14, 2014 - Editor’s note: Calen discusses the system migration issues Jollibee faced that allegedly led to inventory...
Featured image for “Mapping a Map in JPA”

Article

Mapping a Map in JPA >

July 14, 2014 - It’s common to see a java.util.List being used for a to-many mapping (with ORM). And it’s also common to...
Featured image for “Show, Don’t Just Tell”

Article

Show, Don’t Just Tell >

July 7, 2014 - Lorenzo tells us that when it comes to software design, it’s not always about asking....
Featured image for “Quantifying Domain Model versus Transaction Script”

Article

Quantifying Domain Model versus Transaction Script >

July 1, 2014 - I’ve been conducting training classes (with Orange and Bronze) that cover topics like TDD, design patterns...
Featured image for “Gaining Domain Knowledge of ISO-8583 Messages”

Article

Gaining Domain Knowledge of ISO-8583 Messages >

February 22, 2014 - Let’s talk about how we improved code readability and gained domain knowledge in creating ISO 8583 messages...
Featured image for “TDD is a Great Way to Pick-Up Where You Left Off”

Article

TDD is a Great Way to Pick-Up Where You Left Off >

February 10, 2014 - I just realized that TDD is a great way to pick up where you left...
Featured image for “Early UI, Early Feedback, Better Results”

Article

Early UI, Early Feedback, Better Results >

November 1, 2013 - A few months back, I was reviewing some internal apps we had in our organization,...
Featured image for “Arrays.asList() – Why You Should Wrap It”

Article

Arrays.asList() – Why You Should Wrap It >

August 13, 2013 - Ria shows us why you should wrap a list inside a list implementation if you’re...
Featured image for “Caching in Java with LRUMap”

Article

Caching in Java with LRUMap >

June 17, 2013 - Ria briefs us about the LRUMap and how it is used to cache recently used...
Featured image for “Grails, also works as a time compressor”

Article

Grails, also works as a time compressor >

May 15, 2013 - Karl gives us a brief on how Grails works, why it is the convenient app...
Featured image for “Maven & Archiva – No Dependency Information Available / Missing POM”

Article

Maven & Archiva – No Dependency Information Available / Missing POM >

April 29, 2013 - Ria tells programmers what she discovered and how she solved the case of the missing...
Featured image for “Groovy and Grails Infographic”

Article

Groovy and Grails Infographic >

March 13, 2013 - What? A Groovy and Grails infographic? Yes, finally! We’ve been trying to look all over...
Featured image for “Agile Outsourcing is Like Dating & Marriage – A 5-Step Agile Outsourcing How-To”

Article

Agile Outsourcing is Like Dating & Marriage – A 5-Step Agile Outsourcing How-To >

December 20, 2012 - There’s a lot of horror stories in offshore outsourcing of software development, but every once...
Featured image for “Beginning Android Part 4 – Apache Cordova Persistence Support”

Article

Beginning Android Part 4 – Apache Cordova Persistence Support >

August 15, 2012 - Catch Up! If you haven’t seen the first three parts of this Beginning Android tutorial series,...
Featured image for “Heroes of Technology: The Search Guru”

Article

Heroes of Technology: The Search Guru >

July 19, 2012 - We’ve all heard how wonderful it is to work for Google. Aside from working on...
Featured image for “Tommy Lim Jr. on ANC’s Future Perfect”

Interview

Tommy Lim Jr. on ANC’s Future Perfect >

May 23, 2012 - O&B’s Tommy Lim Jr. guests on Future Perfect to talk about Artificial Intelligence – which...
Featured image for “Health Informatics with OpenMRS”

Article

Health Informatics with OpenMRS >

May 18, 2012 - The Wikipedia definition of health informatics explains it best: “Health informatics is a discipline at...
Featured image for “Beginning Android (Part 3)”

Article

Beginning Android (Part 3) >

May 17, 2012 - Catch Up! If you haven’t seen the first and second part of this Beginning Android tutorial...
Featured image for “Beginning Android (Part 2)”

Article

Beginning Android (Part 2) >

April 17, 2012 - Creating Your First Android Application Part 1 of this Beginning Android tutorial series covered the overview...
Featured image for “Beginning Android (Part 1)”

Article

Beginning Android (Part 1) >

March 2, 2012 - This post will provide a brief overview of the Android platform. What is Android? —...
Featured image for “Enter Agile”

Article

Enter Agile >

April 8, 2009 - This article is targeted at non-technical, mostly client-type audience. It was written from the approach...