Becoming a programmer can be a daunting task. After reading Your First Year in Code, you might wonder what awaits you long term. My book, What is Programming covers more of the […]
Your 30th Year in Code
Of course HTML is a programming language
Is HTML a programming language? I could express a bit of shock, even dismay, at the question, but instead, I’ll try a more polished approach. In some sense, it may be a […]
Would you program a human?
With tales of Crispr babies in the news, I’ve been pondering the implications of programming human beings. This may or may not have been spurred by a crime novel I recently read, […]
ELI5: The filter, map, zip, and reduce operations
You’ve baked a fresh batch of gingerbread cookies. A bunch of little men, snowmen, stars, and bells are cooling on some trays. You clean up the table and lay out the colours […]
Sadly, I must say goodbye to Leaf (my programming language)
This is hard to write, or rather, it’s a hard decision to make. After investing many years on Leaf — a programming language, a major life project — I need to take […]
I don’t know how to create a website
The web has been part of my career since the beginning. I’ve created several sites, including apps and games, hell, I’ve even created web development tools, yet I have to admit I […]
Hidden complexity in cute animal pictures
You head over to your favourite link site and click one of the pictures — or let’s be honest, you ctrl+click all the pictures. Your browser is filled with tabs of cute […]
A real cost of low performing applications
The platform as a service model adds new importance to the performance of our software. Despite ever decreasing hardware costs, metered services make every bit count. My previous article on performance touched […]
Why do we need pointers/references?
Below I’ve tried to catalog some of the typical uses of references in programming. My aim is to clarify the role references play in a language to help me decide how they […]
How to handle an error
Error handling should be simple. It can become mired in complexity, but I don’t believe it has to be that way. If we stay focused on fundamentals, what seems like a difficult […]
Of Faults and Errors: Who’s to blame?
Is there a difference between a “fault” and an “error” within a computer program? A number of people commented on my previous article suggesting this to be the case. I will try […]
Antiquated Error Handling: abort/exit
The abort function is a remnant of old programming practices, and it pains me to see it in modern software. While it’s great that a program detects an error, calling abort is […]
Performance is irrelevant
Asking questions about performance online universally invites scorn and accusation. A large number of programmers apparently feel that the efficiency of code is nowadays insignificant. So long as the functional requirements have […]
No new language will stop your program from crashing
New languages try to improve the lives of programmers by simplifying some aspect of programming. Many make bold claims about eliminating certain types of errors, yet in the end none of them […]
