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  Clojure & Java Interop

About a year ago I got a phone call asking if I wanted to join another team at DRW. The team supports a (primarily) Java application, but the performance requirements would also allow it to be written in a higher level language. I'd been writing Clojure (basically) full-time at that point - so my response was simple: I'd love to join, but I'm going to want to do future development using Clojure. A year later we still have plenty of Java, but the vast majority of the new code I add is Cloj...

   Java,Clojure,Interoprability,Commit,Function call     2011-12-29 09:11:22

  How I Quickly Test and Validate Startup Ideas

Since I’ve technically been unemployed now for a week, I’ve spent most of that time brainstorming some new ideas and putting them into a Google Spreadsheet.This week I began going through that list and pulling out the ones I think have a chance and I narrowed a pretty large list down to just a few.Let’s take one of the examples from my list. It doesn’t have a name, so let’s just call it Patient Connect.The idea behind Patient Connect is that it integrates with ...

   Startup,Idea,Choose,Validation,Verify,Invest     2011-10-28 10:14:41

  Language Complexity?

Some languages are complex, others are simple … right?  C++ versus just about anything else is a good example here.  But, it begs the question: what makes a language complex? So, I’ve just been reading Bruce Eckel’s Artima article on Scala.  It’s actually a nice article, and I enjoyed it.  But, one thing bugged me — and, it’s nicely summarised in this quote: But you can see from the code above that learning Scala should be a lot eas...

   Programming language,complexity     2011-06-15 02:16:05

  Are frameworks making developers dumb?

Last week I got to take interviews to hire senior java developers with around 5 years of experience. But after the interview process is over I felt like the frameworks makes developers life easier but at the same time making them dumb.Everyone puts almost all the new frameworks on their resume claiming they have "Strong, working experience on Spring, Hibernate, Web Services etc".Here is how the interviews went on.Me: You have used Spring in your latest project. What are the advant...

   Framework,Importance,Disadvantage,Easy     2011-09-06 08:10:08

  Why Good Programmers Are Lazy and Dumb

I realized that, paradoxically enough, good programmers need to be both lazy and dumb. Lazy, because only lazy programmers will want to write the kind of tools that might replace them in the end. Lazy, because only a lazy programmer will avoid writing monotonous, repetitive code – thus avoiding redundancy, the enemy of software maintenance and flexible refactoring. Mostly, the tools and processes that come out of this endeavor fired by laziness will speed up the production. This ma...

   Good programmer,Lazy,Reason,Dumb     2012-04-18 07:15:23

  Making Your Tech Conference Presentation, and Experience, Not Suck

Tech conferences are incredibly expensive, and not just in dollars. Even free conferences like BarCamps incur the expense of the attendee’s time. Taking time off from work or family is a hassle at the very least, and it’s time that isn’t billable. The draw of the conference boils down to those 45 minute sessions, and speaker and attendee alike should make the most of it. Speakers often start off by wasting time. They front-load the presentation with worthless informatio...

   Soft skill,Tech presentation,Advice,Highlight     2011-12-20 08:50:00

  Google may integrate Chrome OS and Android to build Google OS

A few days ago Google announced Andy Rubin would not in charge of Android anymore and Sundar Pichai would take over Andy Rubin's position. This triggers many guesses on the future direction of the Chrome OS and Android operating system.According to Digitimes, Google is likely to integrate the Chrome OS and Android to build an unified Google OS. But to challenge Windows in the global notebook market, this new system may be in a difficult time in next 1 or 2 years.Google and Acer have indicated b...

   Google OS,Sundar Pichai     2013-03-16 23:55:24

  Privacy & Security What Is the Difference?

                       When we discuss the internet today, there are two terms that we frequently here: privacy and security. While you may think that these two terms mean the same thing and are thus interchangeable, this isn’t true. As such, you’ll want to take a moment to learn the difference between these two terms. Understanding the Difference Between Privacy and Security When you open a checking account you share your p...

   SECURITY,PRIVACY,CYBERSECURITY     2018-12-27 00:29:57

  The significance of coding competition to actual work

Some friends asked this question: In secondary schools we participate in the NOI, in university we participate in ACM/ICPC, TopCoder.What's the significance of coding competition to actual work? I participated in the NOI from 1994 to 1996, ACM/ICPC from 1999 to 2000 and TopCoder in 2002 for six months. Later I paid little attention to coding competition, so I may not understand the changes in recent years and race mode . The capabilities we can get by participating the competition can be summari...

   ACM,Programming,Facebook,TopCoder     2013-02-28 20:38:23

  Sustainability

When I was in business school 25 years ago, I don't recall the term sustainability used. Maybe it was, but it certainly didn't register in my brain. The mantras that I recall were return on investment, shareholder value, revenue growth, and driving efficiencies in the business.But as I look at many of the challenges facing businesses today, it seems to me that the focus on performance and efficiency often comes at the cost of sustainability. This talk by Clay Christensen really drives that point...

   Sustainability,Productivity,Efficiency     2011-11-21 10:07:16

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