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  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

  Cache them if you can

“The fastest HTTP request is the one not made.” I always smile when I hear a web performance speaker say this. I forget who said it first, but I’ve heard it numerous times at conferences and meetups over the past few years. It’s true! Caching is critical for making web pages faster. I’ve written extensively about caching: Call to improve browser caching(lack of) Caching for iPhone Home Screen AppsRedirect caching deep diveMobile cache file sizesImproving app ...

   Cache,HTTP request,Websiite     2012-03-27 12:54:02

  10 super useful PHP snippets you probably haven’t seen

When working with PHP, it is very useful to have a “toolbox” of handy functions and code snippets that can save lots of time when needed. Today, I’m going to show you 10 super useful code snippets that you probably never heard of. Text messaging with PHP using the TextMagic API If for some reason, you need to send text messages to your clients cell phones, you should definitely have a look to TextMagic. They provide an easy API which allow you to send SMS to cell...

   PHP,Code,Snippet,Useful code segment     2012-01-19 11:07:16

  How To Optimize Your Site With HTTP Caching

I’ve been on a web tweaking kick lately: how to speed up your javascript, gzip files with your server, and now how to set up caching. But the reason is simple: site performance is a feature. For web sites, speed may be feature #1. Users hate waiting, we get frustrated by buffering videos and pages that pop together as images slowly load. It’s a jarring (aka bad) user experience. Time invested in site optimization is well worth it, so let’s dive in. What is Caching? ...

   Website performance,Speed,HTTP Cache,Hash code     2011-12-10 06:11:33

  How Duff’s Device Works

I like C, but I have to admit that, sometimes, “The Old Man of Programming” can be a bit of a killjoy. This is one of the most exciting eras in computer history, but lately, C’s acting like he doesn’t evenwant to have a good time. While the cool kids like Ruby and Haskell are living it up, C’s over in the corner obsessing over bits and bytes and memory alignment and pointers and the stack and machine architecture and unreachable allocations and multiple indi...

   Duff device,Algorithm,Switch,Case     2011-05-27 14:10:18

  10 reasons why Dart is cooler than JavaScript

Dart is a new programming language from Google and after coding JavaScript for over one year now, I immediately felt in love with it. Coming from the Java world I had a good bunch of things I had to learn before I could use JavaScript. Some people say, you need to dig deep into JavaScript, otherwise you are not allowed to speak about the pros and cons of a language. I am not a JavaScript Ninja. But I strongly believe a programming language should be easy to learn, easy to understand and s...

   Dart,JavaScript,Comparison     2012-01-05 08:23:21

  FUCK PASSWORDS

I'm so tired of passwords. So, so, so tired. Most people don't understand this. Most people use the same password everywhere. Most people can just mechanically type out password3 in every password box, smirking to themselves at how clever they are, because who would ever guess 3 instead of 1? I don't do that. Let me tell you what i do. I generate a different password for every service, based on a convoluted master password and the name of the thing. I do this because it's what you're...

   Security,Password,Random generation,Hard to remember     2011-12-05 11:32:45

  Why so many Python web frameworks?

When asked about the plethora of web frameworks for Python the answer is often that it is way too easy to put together one in Python. That certainly seems plausible since there are so many libraries that implement the components of a web framework and if it's easy to plug those pieces together then maybe that lowers the bar of entry for new frameworks. So let's give it a shot, we'll pick some components and spend a couple hours seeing how far we can get building a web framework, which we...

   Python,Web framework,Dynamic scripting language,Web design     2012-02-13 05:32:48

  Feature: The History Of Mobile Gaming

Mobile phones have come a long way since the unsightly bricks of the 1980s. The sleek handsets of today are a fraction the size of their ancestors, yet exponentially more powerful. While the implications for communication have been profound, there have been many other applications for this technology. Modern devices are capable of supporting increasingly complex software, innovative interfaces and networking capabilities, and the gaming sector has been one of the biggest benefactors of this.Much...

   Game,Mobile,History,Feature, Game on mobile device     2011-10-12 11:44:30

  Java is not the new COBOL

If you Google “Java is the new COBOL” you’ll find a glut of articles proliferating this mantra. I don’t know its origins, however I’m inclined to think it’s mostly repeated (and believed) by the Ruby community. Ruby, from a developer’s perspective is a low-friction language. A developer can just sit down at a text editor and start banging out code without really thinking about such superflous things as types. Java on the other hand, well, you h...

   Java,Ruby,Type,COBOL,Comparison     2011-11-10 10:40:56

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