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  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

  We’re working our young people too hard

Yesterday, I shared an anecdote involving a school I once attended with a list. This anecdote eventually became the basis for a blog post. Traffic was fairly normal for the first few hours until it found its way onto hackernews.Then it exploded.The comments on both the original blog post and the post on hackernews filled almost immediately with opinionated hackers, teachers and students sharing similar experiences, discussing the problem and figuring out what should be done about it.Repeate...

   Education,Science,Teacher,Student,Exam     2011-11-17 08:38:01

  Prototypes and Inheritance in JavaScript

Forget everything you know about object-oriented programming. Instead, I want you to think about race cars. Yes – race cars. Recently I was watching the 24 Hours of Le Mans –a popular racing event in France. The fastest cars in the race are the Le Mans Prototypes. Although these cars are built by car manufacturers like Audi and Peugeot, they are not cars you’ll see on the streets and highways of your home town. They are built exclusively for high-speed endurance ra...

   JavaScript,Prototype,Inheritance     2012-02-27 04:55:22

  10 Tools Every Software Developer Should Use in 2018

The main problem I noticed about most programmers is that even though they know about latest software development tools, they never really spend significant time to learn them well. As a programmer, I always try to learn new tools and latest technologies. At the same time, I also look to improve my knowledge of tools which I have been using for many years. Whether you're a front-end developer, full-stack programmer or part of a DevOps team, you should familiarize yourself with the latest develop...

   SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT, SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT TOOLS, PROGRAMMING TOOLS     2018-04-28 07:08:00

  Sass Style Guide: A Sass Tutorial on How to Write Better CSS Code

Writing consistent and readable CSS that will scale well is a challenging process. Especially when the style sheets are getting larger, more complex, and harder to maintain. One of the tools available to developers to write better CSS are preprocessors. A preprocessor is a program that takes one type of data and converts it to another type of data, and in our case CSS preprocessors are preprocessing languages which are compiled to CSS. There are many CSS preprocessors that front-end develop...

   CSS,SASS,TUTORIAL     2015-09-17 06:40:47

  Programming Achievements: How to Level Up as a Developer

How does a good developer become a great developer?Forget greatness for a moment: How does a decent developer become a good developer?There is no definitive path from Step 1 to Step n. Heck, it's not even clear what Step n is. And as logically-minded developer types, the lack of a well-defined route can make for a daunting journey from novice to master.I've spent a fair bit of time over the last few years bumping up against this conundrum. What's next? How do I go from being a goo...

   Good developer,Great developer,Comparison,Knowledge,Skill,Platform     2011-11-09 02:12:58

  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

  How I Became a Programmer

I posted a very brief response to a post on HackerNews yesterday challenging the notion that 8 weeks of guided tutelage on Ruby on Rails is not going to produce someone who you might consider a "junior RoR developer." It did not garner many upvotes so I figured that like most conversation on the Internet it faded into the general ambient chatter. Imagine my surprise when I woke up to couple handfuls' worth of emails from around the world asking me what I did, how I did it, an...

   Programmer,Advice,Method,Study     2011-11-24 09:14:50

  Good to Great Python reads

A col­lec­tion of python “must reads”:The Python yield key­word explainedPython’s super() con­sid­ered super!Under­stand­ing Python DecoratorsWhat is a meta­class in Python?Meta­classes DemystifiedTry/Catch for val­i­da­tion or speed?Python (and Python C API): __new__ ver­sus __init__Python “self” keywordPython and the Prin­ci­ple of Least AstonishmentA Curi­ous Course on Corou­tines and Concurr...

   Python,Reference,eBook,Reading Material     2011-11-15 11:46:12

  PHP: a fractal of bad design

Preface I’m cranky. I complain about a lot of things. There’s a lot in the world of technology I don’t like, and that’s really to be expected—programming is a hilariously young discipline, and none of us have the slightest clue what we’re doing. Combine with Sturgeon’s Law, and I have a lifetime’s worth of stuff to gripe about. This is not the same. PHP is not merely awkward to use, or ill-suited for what I want, or suboptimal, or...

   PHP,Design,Analysis     2012-04-11 13:46:57

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