Why use client side MVC frameworks

I recently posted regarding my new preference of RoR vs Django. Moving forward with updating my knowledge of web development, I took a look at AngularJS and I have to admit I like what I see. Their tutorial is very well built and clearly demonstrates how to render views on the client side based on data generated on the server side.

This means your back-end does not need to render any HTML code anymore and you can focus on developing REST APIs providing the data. While client overload may still have been an argument against client side MVC framework a few years ago when this new kind of framework appeared, modern computers can really handle the rendering, and modern mobile phones are way faster than older desktop systems.

I chose AngularJS because the application I am currently working on was originally developed with it but you can find a very clear comparison of client-side MVC frameworks on TodoMVC where you can find a to-do application implemented using the various frameworks available today.

RoR vs Django

I love Django. It was the first framework I used when I took a new look four years ago at web development after playing around with PHP during my high school years (it was PHP3, almost 4 at the time…). And I developed two projects with Django.

But now I am considering getting a new job with a startup and they already have a website developed by a freelancer using Rails. So I spent the last week going through this book and I have to admit I am impressed.

So impressed that I will probably be using Rails from now on when I do not need to develop single page applications where I believe Meteor has a stronger case.

This is just my opinion but in case you still have a doubt on which framework to go with to get things done quickly, go with Rails.

Volatility is back

For the return of volatility I fixed my VIX futures historical term structure dashboard: this is still available at https://virtualizedfrog.wordpress.com/historical-vix-term-structure/

eBook Reader

When it comes to reading eBooks or simply PDFs, staring at a laptop screen can be very uncomfortable, and using a tablet like the iPad simply does not feel fit because of the weight and the limited battery life.

Luckily, we can now look towards the eBook readers using the eInk technology, providing the same feeling as reading a magazine. I know this has been around for a few years with the Kindle but I had not really thought of buying one until recently.

And last month I did, and I chose the Kobo Glo HD. Why this one?

• I did not want be stuck with Amazon
• Very decent PDF support: there is a landscape mode and you can make annotations even on PDF
• It is very light
• And has an amazing battery life
• Has a backlight in case
• And wifi to synchronize it with your dropbox account or to buy books when you are on the move
• But most of all, Kobo has a partnership with Pocket which enables you to read all your favorite blogs and news offline!

I am not often recom mending technology but thanks to this device I finally get to read longer content than blog posts on holidays, which is priceless.

Meteor SEO

Meteor is looking better and better, but out of the box a search engine will not be able to see anything on your page.

Luckily, some packages have been created to help render your pages on the server side, add a sitemap and so on.

I recommend Julien’s complete guide to Meteor SEO if you want to get a hands on example.

Meteor: closer to the future of web frameworks

Back in April last year I was writing about my recent discovery of the full stack javascript frameworks, and at the time I was thinking this was maybe going to be the way of the future in web development.

Well almost a year later, I have kept reading articles on these libraries and I have to admit I never really tested anything, and stuck to Django for my web projects.

Until this week where I heard about Meteor from a friend. And now I have to admit that even if I am a little reluctant to fully dive into this new tool due to the lack of a proper debugging for Javascript, I was more than impressed by the features it offers: fully responsive, live update, easy deployment, package system, thriving community, etc…

It will not kill Django and Rails overnight, they keep an edge for the backends, but if you have not already done so, try the demo project: a persistent collaborative todo list.

Some guys even wrote a Trello clone on github.

VIX Historical Term Structure

Trading volatility is particularly interesting these days: it is back and easy to buy using ETFs such as VXX or TVIX.
But these instruments are not following the VIX index directly.
I have found it useful to look at the VIX term structure available on the CBOE website.
But the historical VIX term structure has proven to be even more helpful to me in finding entry points.

I am now sharing on my Historical VIX Term Structure page the charts I am generating with a Python script and watching everyday.

The blue line is the rolling front month future, the green line the rolling second month future etc… You can clearly see the contangos and backwardations.

Let me know if you have any improvement you would like to see.

BASI Index – Bond Markets Liquidity

While researching venues and third party systems supported in the fixed income trading world, I took a deeper look at the MarketAxess website the this week.

While browsing through the documentation, I ended up on their research page where they demo their new index, the BASI.

This index measures the liquidity of the fixed income market in the US and in Europe (they have two versions of it) based on the bid-ask spread.

Looking at that chart, the correlation with the VIX index is striking. I tend to think it has been back-fitted at little but the interesting part is that it is starting to move upwards again.

Are investors starting to slowly move out of stocks to start buying more bonds? Is 2015 going to be a new volatile year?

Anyways, this is an interesting index I will keep my eyes on in the future, and I thought was worth sharing.