Notes

Hi,
With respect to the questions asked earlier,
1. How many years of experience do you have as a developer and with which languages/frameworks/etc.?
I have 3+ years of developer experience. I am a Full Stack Developer and a Module Owner.
In my current job, we use Java, Struts in the back-end. We have our own internal Frameworks based on Java and xml (somewhat like an ORM) which we use for rendering tabular data, and for performing DB operations. Our product supports 3 DB providers (Postgres, MySQL, and MSSQL), and I am equally comfortable in all three. I have however worked using DB2 and Oracle 10g too earlier.
For API development, we had earlier done a POC using JAX-RS. But, we had decided not to go with it. I am now using xml to maintaining a Request Mapper (similar to the way Swagger handles the API request). For API testing, we currently use Telerik Fiddler and Postman
In the front end, we use vanilla JS, jQuery, CSS, JSP, JSON and HTML. We have recently started working using Ember. I personally haven't worked on Ember yet. However, I have a fair enough idea of how it works, as I have to review the code (of my team members).
As our product requires agent server communication, I have used, and am familiar with iOS messaging frameworks (Property Lists [plist]), and JavaAPNs (which is used to send notification to iOS devices). For Android agent server communication, we use JSON, and similarly for Windows devices, we use SOAP. I had also worked in XML technologies during my final year of college, namely SOAP, REST, JAX-WS for my course completion project.
However, apart from my work experience, I have personally learnt a little bit of Node.js, Mongoose, Swagger, MongoDB, Express.js, ES6 Javascript, Angular.js and React.js for developing a shopping application, for a client. (non - monetary) -- This work is in progress.
I had also, worked as an Intern in Cognizant R&D during my final year, when I used JMF (Java Media Framework) for developing a Video testing tool. During the process, I had used a few image testing tools, namely, Selenium and Sikuli.
With respect to versioning systems, I have used Git and Hg.

2. Do you have any links to a portfolio, Github, StackOverflow or LinkedIn I can check out?
You can visit my personal website at http://anjsudh.me
My Github profile is available at http://github.com/anjsudh
I haven't checked in much in the last couple of years after college, however, as you will see in the upcoming weeks, there will be many check-ins hereafter, as I have made up my mind to learn more. I will be making multiple small projects as I learn new technologies, and will be open sourcing the shopping application, as soon as I start development.
As for my LinkedIn profile, you can check it at https://www.linkedin.com/in/anjsudh

3. What's your availability like right now? If you're employed and would need to give a notice, how long would that take? What timezone are you in and what time of day do you work?

I am currently working in Zoho. There is no notice period here. However, I will have to wind up my current task, if I am quitting, as it will be unethical to quit in the middle. Give it a week or two, but that's the most it should take.

I work in Indian Standard Timezone, usually work from 9am in the morning to 7-11 30 pm at night. It varies based on the current task priority.

And now for the more in-depth questions. Ready? Let's do this...

Debugging

How do you approach a tricky bug? Give an example from a recent project. Have any favorite tools or techniques for figuring things out when they go wrong?

(max 300 words. Where helpful, include a few screenshots or a short video).

I rely mostly on logs, especially the timestamps and thread ids in the logs. I tend to add logs for every event, so, if a customer comes with an issue, I usually check their activity during the time, and note it down separately. Based on their activity, I check the code, in the particular build version and walk through to find out if there are any possibilities of code breaks. In my experience most of them generally fall under:
-> incorrect checks in code, missed null pointer handling, edge cases
-> missed parameter passing
-> two object manipulating the same reference / synchronization issues
-> dead locks due to files/ network
-> transaction related problems.
If I have a live setup where the bug gets reproduced, I would prefer to use a Debugger


Testing

Can you tell us about a project where you have written tests and whether they were successful or not in increasing the quality of the code?
If possible, show an example from a recent project (pseudocode or link to a gist/commit/file) of how you rewrote some code to make it more testable.
(max 300 words)

My product currently works based on device server communication. Hence, automated testing was earlier not possible. As one of my first tasks when I joined Zoho, I had developed a simulator, to simulate communication between the mobile device and server. Raw data that were posted from test devices were duplicated, and reused to be sent from a separate simulator. As agents always initiate communication with a server, upon providing the device count, and a server url, in the simulator, data will be posted to the server like it is from a device.

On a further note, I am currently working on developing REST APIs for product integration. As a part of the work, for every endpoint, I have used Postman to write a complete workflow for testing individual modules (TDD). Devices can be added to the server using the simulator, and after that the complete product can be tested using the test cases developed using Postman. These two can be integrated and initiated upon build creation.

Best Practices

Describe something that is considered a "best practice" for a technology you're familiar with, and what factors go into your decision of whether to follow it or not.

Then, walk us through a code sample from a recent project where you've had to make such a decision. Your code sample can be links to commits/gists/files, or just paste snippets here and walk us through your decisions.

(max 300 words)