Today's Question:  What does your personal desk look like?        GIVE A SHOUT

SEARCH KEYWORD -- Write



  How Computers Boot Up

The previous post described motherboards and the memory map in Intel computers to set the scene for the initial phases of boot. Booting is an involved, hacky, multi-stage affair – fun stuff. Here’s an outline of the process: An outline of the boot sequence Things start rolling when you press the power button on the computer (no! do tell!). Once the motherboard is powered up it initializes its own firmware – the chipset and other tidbits – and tries to ...

   Computer,Boot-up,Rationale     2012-04-11 13:43:02

  Why Emacs?

PreludeIf you are a professional writer – i.e., if someone else is getting paid to worry about how your words are formatted and printed – Emacs outshines all other editing software in approximately the same way that the noonday sun does the stars. It is not just bigger and brighter; it simply makes everything else vanish.Neal StephensonIn the Beginning … Was the Command LineI’m an Emacs user and I’m proud of the fact. I know my reasons for using it (and loving i...

   Emacs,Linux,IDE,Editor,Usage     2011-11-21 10:22:05

  ECMAScript 5 Objects and Properties

ECMAScript 5 is on its way. Rising from the ashes of ECMAScript 4, which got scaled way back and became ECMAScript 3.1, which was then re-named ECMAScript 5 (more details)- comes a new layer of functionality built on top of our lovable ECMAScript 3. Update: I've posted more details on ECMAScript 5 Strict Mode, JSON, and More. There are a few new APIs included in the specification but the most interesting functionality comes into play in the Object/Property code. This new code gives you th...

   ECMAScript,Object,Property     2012-01-29 04:38:50

  Go vs C benchmark. Could Go be faster than C?

During last semester I was attending Multiprocessor Architectures course, given at Facultad de Informática where I study my Computer Science degree. As part of the assignments due to pass the course, we had to do several programs written in C to benchmark matrix multiplication by testing different techniques and technologies. First of all we had to do a secuential program in three different versions: A normal one where the result matrix is ordered by rows and the loops range the matrix by ...

   Gp,C,Benchmark,Faster,Speed,Comparison     2012-02-08 10:09:07

  Python Performance Tips, Part 1

To read the Zen of Python, type import this in your Python interpreter. A sharp reader new to Python will notice the word “interpreter”, and realize that Python is another scripting language. “It must be slow!” No question about it: Python program does not run as fast or efficiently as compiled languages. Even Python advocates will tell you performance is the area that Python is not good for. However, YouTube has proven Python is capable of serving 40 million videos...

   Python,Performance,Efficiency,Tips     2012-02-14 10:50:22

  Kicking ass together: How to improve coding skills as a group

Over the last year and a half, I have worked with a small group of students and staff to create an excellent online learning community at Mendicant University. Unfortunately, because Mendicant is something that we’re intentionally scaling at a very slow pace, we won’t directly reach as many people as we’d like to any time soon. In this post, I’ve collected some of the things that I think contribute to making Mendicant University a great place to learn. I’d love...

   Code skill,Group,Improvement,Efficiency     2012-01-31 23:59:33

  Java’s toLowerCase() has got a surprise for you!

Have you ever encountered a surprise while using toLowerCase()? This is a widely used method when it comes to strings and case conversion. There is a nice little thing you should be aware of. toLowerCase() respects internationalization (i18n). It performs the case conversion with respect to your Locale. When you call toLowerCase(), internally toLowerCase(Locale.getDefault()) is getting called. It is locale sensitive and you should not write a logic around it interpreting loca...

   Java,toLowerCaser(),Locale specific,Stra     2011-09-29 11:21:07

  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

  Top 10 WhatsApp Tips & Tricks To Try in 2017

v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} .shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);} Normal 0 false false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE

       2017-02-01 03:14:42

  11 Important Database designing rules

Introduction Before you start reading this article let me confirm that I am not a guru in database designing. The below 11 points which are listed are points which I have learnt via projects, my own experiences and my own reading. I personally think it has helped me a lot when it comes to DB designing. Any criticism welcome. The reason why I am writing a full blown article is, when developers sit for designing a database they tend to follow the three normal forms like a silver bullet. They...

   Database design,Rules,OLAP     2012-04-12 05:51:38