April 2022 Summaries

You can write code or write about code, and while both have their challenges, writing about code has its own unique difficulties due to the abstract nature of technical concepts. Effective technical writing requires a focus on what the reader wants from the post, using techniques such as humor, anthropomorphizing concepts, images, interactive examples, and code, while also staying focused on the narrative flow of the text. By prioritizing crucial information, removing unnecessary details, and using formatting tools like <code> tags, images, and bulleted lists, you can make technical writing more engaging and accessible. It's essential to incorporate technical terms into the narrative flow, avoid dryness by breaking up complex concepts, and provide clear explanations of code examples. Editing is also crucial in ensuring accuracy and clarity.

You're welcome to One Dev Minute! This series aims to share information in a quickly consumable format, available on the Vonage Dev YouTube channel. To send SMS messages using Cloud Functions for Firebase, you'll need two accounts: one for Firebase and another for the Vonage API. You can sign up for a free Vonage API account and find your API Key and Secret at the top of the dashboard. Create a new project in the Firebase console, choose whether to use Analytics or not, wait for it to create, select the "pay as you go" pricing plan, install Firebase tools, authenticate with Firebase, initialize Cloud Functions, install dependencies, create an environment file with Vonage API variables, and add them to the `index.js` file. Inside the file, set up Firebase, define a webhook function to receive incoming SMS messages, another function for sending response SMS, and release the function. Then, send an SMS message from your phone to a Vonage number, receive a response on your phone, and update the Firebase Real-Time Database with an event. The complete code is available on GitHub.

Symbl.ai is being used for live closed captioning in a telehealth starter kit, and the audio track is obtained from OpenTok Publisher using the OT.initPublisher() method, which returns a Publisher object that can be used to send audio to Symbl.ai via WebSockets. The Web Audio API is used to process the audio on the frontend, with nodes such as the AudioContext, source, script processor, and gain node being connected together to create an "audio boombox" that prepares the audio buffer for sending to Symbl.ai. A WebSocket connection is established with Symbl.ai using a unique meeting ID and access token, allowing for real-time insights and transcription of live meetings.

If you have been a ReactJS developer for a couple of years, you probably had to refactor your code to use React Hooks. React Hooks has been introduced since the 16.8 version (February 2019) and lets you use state and other React features without writing a class. This blog post explains how to integrate Vonage Video API JS into your React application using Hooks. To do this, you need a Vonage Video API account, ReactJS version >= 16.8, the entry point of the project being the src/index.js file, and the App file which contains the Routes and Component definition. The routes are defined in the App.js file, with two main routes: Waiting room and VideoRoom. The waiting room page creates a publisher to display the video feed, while the video room components use the useSession and usePublisher Hooks to handle the Video API's logic. The app uses React Context, which stores the username, localAudio, and localVideo preferences. It also uses several custom Hooks: useNetworkTest, useChat, initNetworkTest, runNetworkTest, stopNetworkTest, initPublisher, publish, unpublish, createSession, destroySession, subscribe, onStreamCreated, onStreamDestroyed, onAudioLevel, sendMessages, messageListener, and accessAllowedListener. The repository is publicly available at Video API Hooks, and Vonage has recently released a new product called Vonage Video Express to create a multiparty video conference web application.

Max has a background in Physics and was initially interested in communications APIs after his struggles with a NASA project that required more computing knowledge than he had, leading him to teach himself Python and machine learning. He then pursued a master's degree in Machine Learning for Nanotechnology, where he helped a lab find good nanowires to study, gaining experience with code solving problems and helping people. Now as a Python Developer Advocate at Vonage, Max will focus on the company's Python SDKs, APIs, and developer advocacy efforts, sharing his passion for tech and communicating with the development community.

The Vonage Developer Relations team has been focusing on various initiatives and updates to their products and services, including revising notification systems to turn them into meaningful conversations with customers, supporting humanitarian relief efforts for Ukraine, and launching new features such as 10DLC, enhanced conversation-based pricing, and a new Video API product called Experience Composer. The team also introduced a new Meetings API and announced the availability of Jumper.ai, a conversational commerce platform that integrates messaging channels, payment gateways, inventory, and shipping systems with chat-bot, live agent, and AI interactions. Looking ahead, the team plans to release more integrations with popular libraries and frameworks, including WordPress 2FA Plugin, and will be attending various events throughout the next quarter.

Sina has joined the Vonage Developer Relations team as a Java Developer Advocate, focusing on maintaining the Java SDKs and engaging with the Java developer community. He comes from an academic background in Economics and Software Engineering, where he developed skills in programming languages, software development, and research. Sina is self-taught and was inspired to pursue a career in technology after discovering Java during his undergraduate studies. His experience includes contributing to open-source projects and presenting research at international conferences. He enjoys staying up-to-date with computer hardware news and has interests outside of programming, such as cars and competitive gaming.

Gigli Inc. is an online marketplace that connects students with community members to complete household tasks, aiming to bridge the gap between students and community members in university towns by providing a platform for flexible and reliable work opportunities. The company uses Vonage's APIs for SMS verification and sandbox testing, and has made significant progress since its launch, including developing a clickable mobile application prototype and establishing strategic partnerships with notable organizations. With a focus on empowering youth while benefiting communities, Gigli Inc. aims to expand its services to every Canadian community in three years, with plans to penetrate international markets such as the United States.