ISO FileMaker Magazine

While some of the excitement around AI deals with using the technology within your FileMaker solution, it's likely that, as a developer, you should be more excited about how AI changes what you do as a developer.

In fact, it's theorized that the occupation of being a developer will be one of the careers most affected by AI. So, what do you do while we wait and see if this is truly the case? Well, you use AI, of course!

If you haven't yet dipped your toes into the world of using AI to compose some of the code you need, then make sure not to get left behind. You ABSOLUTELY need to investigate how AI changes how you develop. In my own personal experience, I've likely saved a ton of time by having AI write my code for me. The advantage of a developer who already knows code and can take advantage of AI is that they are better developers than those just starting out with no background in coding.

Yes, maybe AI results will eventually become nearly perfect, such that dictating a prompt to create a solution requires no existing knowledge of code. However, any existing knowledge makes you a better composing developer than someone with no knowledge at all.

Here's the trick: You need to know how to take advantage of the tools available, and this video is going to provide the introduction you need in order to make things much faster when coding your FileMaker solution.

Sometimes it's nice to revisit the basics and make sure you've covered all your bases when it comes to what you can do with certain features.

In this video, I take a good look at using the Hide Object When calculation and cover the various options I'm familiar with. This includes uses for the most basic True/False to an increasingly complex calculation which starts adding more and more operators. I also go over the use of containment objects and how they can simplify the use of the Hide Object When calculation.

Have you mastered the use of the Hide Object When calc? Are you integrating uses which account for the user's environment? If not, then give yourself a few minutes and brush up on using this powerful feature of FileMaker development.

Who doesn't want their software to perform as efficiently and as quickly as possible. Don't we always want things to go faster and work better?

Of course we do. The problem is, we don't always take the time to fully think out what is happening when we solve a problem. Sometimes, we just robot our way through the code we are creating because it's how we've always done it - and it's easy or faster.

Being an "efficiency nut", when it comes to code, is something I really enjoy. It represents the fact that you have a reduced amount of code to accomplish the same thing that previously had more. Less code means less to maintain. Less code can also mean more performant.

In this video, I walk through a recent example of showing how a particular solution could be simplified. It's an example that plays out in the software world many times over. Most importantly, it represents what is the compounding effects of not taking the time to think out the most efficient solution. If and easiest to maintain, fastest performing solution is what you're after, then you may find a tip or two within this video about Assessing Performance.