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  Becoming a Better Developer, Part 2: Know Your Core Competencies

If you're trying to grow your startup you've come to the right place. Get my 170-page ebook on how to grow a startup and join thousands of self-funded entrepreneurs by subscribing to my newsletter at right. For years business consultants have instructed businesses to “know your core competencies.” What this means is “know what you do well and stick to it.” For example: Harley Davidson makes great motorcycles. But they’re probably not so good at making per...

   Developer,Tips     2011-06-29 08:40:10

  JavaScript's Two Zeros

JavaScript has two zeros: -0 and +0. This post explains why that is and where it matters in practice. The signed zero Numbers always need to be encoded to be stored digitally. Why do some encodings have two zeros? As an example, let’s look at encoding integers as 4-digit binary numbers, via the sign-and-magnitude method. There, one uses one bit for the sign (0 if positive, 1 if negative) and the remaining bits for the magnitude (absolute value). Therefore, -2 and +2 are encoded as f...

   JavaScript,zeros     2012-03-24 05:21:49

  20 bit operations programmers should know

While talking about bit operation, programmers usually think about its efficiency. In embedded programming and system core optimization, appropriate use of bit operations is always a fascinating. When finding a job, it will help you a lot if you use bit operations when writing codes. Mastering simple bit arithmetic skills is necessary. 1. Get maximum int value int getMaxInt(){           return (1 << 31) - 1;//...

   Bit operation, Tips     2012-12-19 12:53:33

  If Multitasking Is Impossible, Why Are Some People So Good at It?

"Multitasking means screwing up several things at once," somebody once said, wrongly. In fact, we don't do many things at once, ever. We do many things in quick succession. And some of us are very good at it.Nagy-Bagoly Arpad/ShutterstockEverybody multitasks. We have conversations while driving. We answer email while browsing the Web. It's hard to imagine living any other way. What would be the alternative, removing the seats from your car to ensure you only drive alone? Block every website not ...

   Multitasking,Human,Program,Task switch,Myth     2011-11-18 09:03:22

  Readability in Programming Languages

I saw a side by side comparison of a bunch of scripting languages online recently. Scripting Languages: PHP, Perl, Python, Ruby My first, and second reaction was yuck! Now I have my biases – biases which may  not be shared by others of course. But I like readable code and for me anytime I see a special character (anything not an alphanumeric) it slows me down. This got me thinking about where we are going in design of programming languages? Are we moving forward (what ever ...

   Programming,Style,Coding style,Readabili     2011-09-22 09:20:03

  The faster-than-fast Fourier transform

The Fourier transform is one of the most fundamental concepts in the information sciences. It’s a method for representing an irregular signal — such as the voltage fluctuations in the wire that connects an MP3 player to a loudspeaker — as a combination of pure frequencies. It’s universal in signal processing, but it can also be used to compress image and audio files, solve differential equations and price stock options, among other things.The reason the Fourier...

   FFT,Fast fourier transform,MIT,Compression     2012-01-19 09:59:09

  How does computer boot up?

The whole boot process of computer can be summarized in 4 phases. 1. BIOS In the 70's  read-only memory(ROM) was invented. The boot program is written into ROM, the first thing the computer does is to read and execute this program when it's powered on. The program in this chip is called "Basic Input/Output System" (BIOS). 1.1 Power-On Self-Test The BIOS will first check whether the computer hardware can fulfill the basic conditions for booting up, this process is called Power-On Self-Test...

   Computer, boot, partition     2013-02-23 23:19:47

  Parallel Javascript

Lately the ideas for a parallel, shared memory JavaScript have begun to take shape. I’ve been discussing with various JavaScript luminaries and it seems like a design is starting to emerge. This post serves as a documentation of the basic ideas; I’m sure the details will change as we go along. User Model The model is that a JavaScript worker (the “parent”) may spawn a number of child tasks (the “children”). The parent is suspended while the children exe...

   Parallel JavaScript,API,Spawn,Parent,Task     2012-01-11 12:02:00

  10 Secrets of Successful Leaders

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “A good leader inspires people to have confidence in the leader, a great leader inspires people to have confidence in themselves.” But, becoming a great leader isn’t easy. Successfully maneuvering a team through the ups and downs of starting a new business can be one of the greatest challenges a small-business owner faces.Leadership is one of the areas that many entrepreneurs tend to overlook, according leadership coach John C. Maxwell, whose books...

   Leader,Skill,Calm,Trust,Involvement     2011-11-03 03:36:56

  How Integers Should Work (In Systems Programming Languages)

My last post outlined some of the possibilities for integer semantics in programming languages, and asked which option was correct. This post contains my answers. Just to be clear: I want practical solutions, but I’m not very interested by historical issues or backwards compatibility with any existing language, and particularly not with C and C++. We’ll start with: Premise 1: Operations on default integer types return the mathematically correct result or else trap. This is th...

   Number,Algorithm,System,Embedded system     2011-12-05 12:48:41

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