http://blog.chilly.ca Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Photography, Cooking, Uninspired Titles... Wed, 30 Sep 2009 21:07:03 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en So a good chunk of my month was spent learning a new language, but it wasn't Clojure. I had a large assignment in my Concurrent Programming class (that probably took me way longer than it should have), and three of the big pieces of it were in a language ... http://blog.chilly.ca/?p=293 My friend Jeff recently wrote a blog post called "Does Usability Really Matter?". I found it interesting, and thought that he was on to something, but I figured I'd contribute a few extra thoughts. He talks quite a bit about the indicator lights on his home theatre being quite mismatched. ... http://blog.chilly.ca/?p=290 I'm not sure when this was published, but in EWD 1305, Dijkstra identifies the clear need for TDD, presumably well before the phrase "Test-Driven Development" is ever used: A programmer has to be able to demonstrate that his program has the required properties. If this comes as an afterthought, it is ... http://blog.chilly.ca/?p=287 This article is just way too good not to link to Speed Kills. Some choice quotes: Frankly, the ability to be deliberate is the mark of a professional. Professionals do not rush. Professionals understand the value of cleanliness and discipline. Professionals do not write bad code — ever. Or how about: If you want ... http://blog.chilly.ca/?p=285 I'm so excited about this that I had to write about it. Today I start a new journey. I've left my otherwise fantastic job at VendAsta to start my M.Sc. in Computer Science. I've been working in industry for 2.5 years now, and I figured I'd like to ... http://blog.chilly.ca/?p=281 Almost every time I try to use the logging module in Python, I end up mucking it up and then needing to refer to the documentation. Here's what a typical script looks like: import logging logging.info("Hello world") Of course, when you run this, you get no output. You need to make a call ... http://blog.chilly.ca/?p=277 Heavily nested code is one of my bigger pet peeves. I've found that the more nesting there is in a block of code, the more likely it is that it'll be confusing to follow. Here's an example: def something(request): if condition_a and condition_b and condition_c: ... http://blog.chilly.ca/?p=273 I've been thinking that over the last few years, I've become a bit of a Python snob. Python is the hammer that I use to drive (almost) all of the nails I see. I think it's time to branch out a bit. Starting in September (coincidentally, the ... http://blog.chilly.ca/?p=269 There's some pretty nasty* things you can do with Python, if you really try. Here's one that I came across today on the testing-in-python list. Turns out you can programmatically access the call stack. Here's an example: >>> def foo(): ... name = "Kevin" ... bar() ... ... http://blog.chilly.ca/?p=265 On Miško Hevery's blog, there is a pair of fantastic resources: Guide: Writing Testable Code PDF version This document is such a fantastic, succinct explanation of how to write code that will be easy to work with (and test!). [I try not to make too many posts that only consist ... http://blog.chilly.ca/?p=260