Posts in the “programming” category

If you like (or hate) computer programming benchmarks, the Benchmarks Game is interesting. Compare Scala, Java, Ruby, Python, Haskell, Erlang, Clojure, and more.

An image that shows how we write software, from an article on architecture, performance, and games.

“I hate reading other people’s code.” (This cartoon is making the rounds again.)

Found at this Twitter link.

I like to have fun with graphics once in a while, so when I created my new eBook, How I Estimate Software Development Projects, I took a couple of hours to come up with a cover I kinda-sorta like. I could do much better given a couple of days, but for only working on it for a few hours, I’m okay with this.

I was reminded of the ”Joel test” when I looked at this “Notion” job posting in Denver, Colorado. (If that description said “Scala” instead of Ruby, I’d be all over it.)

Why don’t more people work as programmers? Content from Quora (via Forbes).

Another great quote from this article on The Downfall of Imperative Programming.

Too true.

What programmers say vs what they really mean. From this Twitter post.

Quiver is a “programmer’s notebook.” Personally I keep all of my notes out here so I can search them easily, but I can see where this app would be good.

I’m just working through some examples in an excellent Android programming book (Android Programming: The Big Nerd Ranch Guide), and ran across this old Java code. I know things are better in Java 8, but this reminds me of how much goodness Scala has brought into my programming life.

Very true. I worked with a guy about 10 years ago who was very smart, but he was also an a-hole. At times he seemed to think it was more important to be funny or snarky than it was to communicate properly, and very often it cost my client time and money, not to mention the frustration of other programmers on his projects. (Image from this twitter link.)

A smart observation: Pair Programming vs Peer Review. From this Twitter page.

Whenever this book Grokking Algorithms comes out, it looks like it might be good.

“The first law of software quality.” From this Twitter page.

If you’re ever interested in learning about visual programming, check out the Scratch project on mit.edu.

These “What if” questions about each programming language are pretty funny. The C#, “What if everything was like Java, but different?” captures my feeling about that language, and the Perl description is pretty accurate, too. (The image comes from this nixCraft Twitter page.)

“Good code is its own best documentation. As you’re about to add a comment, ask yourself, ‘How can I improve the code so that this comment isn’t needed?’ Improve the code and then document it to make it even clearer.”

~ Steve McConnell, author of several famous programming books, including Code Complete

“A visual guide to graph traversal algorithms” is a fun website. As their docs state, “You can draw a new node by clicking anywhere on the visualization canvas. To add an edge between nodes, drag your mouse from one node to another.”