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The Hard-Core Coder

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The Hard-Core Coder

Author Archives: Wyrd Smythe

Python Generators, part 2

23 Tuesday Nov 2021

Posted by Wyrd Smythe in Python

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Collatz conjecture, Python 101, Python code, Python generator

Last time I began exploring Python generator functions. I mostly covered their basic function as iterables, and why they’re good in for-loops. They’re also good for infinite lists. Much of their value lies in how they defer processing an item until it is actually asked for.

This time I’ll dig into the send method, which allows sending messages to a running generator. I’ll also introduce the yield from statement, which allows us to wrap a generator with another function that also acts like a generator.

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Python Generators, part 1

22 Monday Nov 2021

Posted by Wyrd Smythe in Python

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Python 101, Python code, Python generator

Python has a feature called a generator — it’s a way of writing a function that allows that function to trade control back and forth with a calling function. It’s not something one needs often, but it can very useful in certain situations.

Create a Python generator, firstly, in using yield instead of return and, secondly, by designing the function a little differently from one that generates and then returns a list of items.

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Abusing #define in C

19 Friday Nov 2021

Posted by Wyrd Smythe in Stories

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

code clarity, computer code, computer programming, defined values, readable code

When I was a callow young programmer learning the ropes and enjoying the sheer power of the C language, I got a bit carried away with the macro pre-processor’s ability to let you redefine the language.

As much fun as that is, and as much as it can make your source code look cool, it’s a really bad idea. At some point the folks in comp.lang.c read me the riot act about it, and they were right.

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The Blessing of Unicode

15 Monday Nov 2021

Posted by Wyrd Smythe in CS101

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

strings, text, text file, Unicode, UTF-8

Computers process numbers using arithmetic and logic (which amount to the same thing). Processing text, however, requires at least two levels of abstraction. Firstly, a definition of a textual atom — informally a character. Secondly, a definition of a textual unit — typically called a string. A string is an ordered list of characters.

Therein lies a whole field of computer science. From a practical point of view, implementing text has become much easier with Unicode. Different character sets was one of the more awful aspects of dealing with text. (Remember CP-1252?)

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A Simple DL Parser

10 Wednesday Nov 2021

Posted by Wyrd Smythe in Fun, Python

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

computer code, language design, little programming language, Python code, recursive descent parser

Last time I introduced a general Definition Language (DL) I created for defining structured information. The end goal was an extension of DL, called Data Definition Language (DDL), intended for defining memory and file formats. It was intended for tools that examine that data, allowing them more knowledgeable output than a raw hex dump.

I mentioned that DL has been on my mind lately, and as it turns out I spent the day yesterday writing a DL parser in Python.

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Data Definition: DL and DDL

07 Sunday Nov 2021

Posted by Wyrd Smythe in Stories

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

computer languages, language design, little programming language

A long, long time ago I came up with a simple something I called Definition Language (DL) and an extension of that I called Data Definition Language (DDL). This was before XML (let alone JSON) became popular, and DL and DDL turned out to be somewhat akin to those.

My intention was a configuration language that would allow a data-dumping tool that knew the structure of the data it was dumping. Debuggers can sometimes do that in context. I wanted a tool that could do that with any file format given some DDL config file. (These days I’d probably just use XML.)

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Always Implement toString

02 Tuesday Nov 2021

Posted by Wyrd Smythe in CS101

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

code clarity, computer code, computer languages, computer programming, Java, Python code, readable code, toString, __str__

Although I’m categorizing this one as really good advice, rather than as a rule, I think it should be viewed as basically a rule. I think it should be a rule in any object-oriented language that supports it natively (Java and Python, for example).

The advice (rule of thumb, say) is to always create a useful implementation of toString when you create a class. It makes your development and maintenance life ever so much better.

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Playing with Polynomials

01 Monday Nov 2021

Posted by Wyrd Smythe in Fun, Python

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

computer code, math, Python code

I haven’t put nearly the energy into this blog as I have my main blog, Logos Con Carne. My intentions are good, but somehow I never seem to get around to posting here. (It’s certainly not due to lack of interest.)

In an attempt to get more in the habit, I thought I’d write about some simple fun I had recently with a class for calculating polynomials. It was inspired by a lesson from a set of really fun Python tutorial YouTube videos.

Continue reading →

Tabs or Spaces?

19 Tuesday Oct 2021

Posted by Wyrd Smythe in CS101

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

code clarity, computer code, computer programmers, readable code, space character, tab character, text file

There are many issues that divide programmers: operating systems and editors being two huge ones. I’ve worked on too many platforms to care much about the first one, but I’m a lifelong gvim user.

One of the lesser dividing issues involves the crucial source coding choice: Tabs or Spaces? The issue is both less and more important these days. Less because editors are very capable; more because Python is popular.

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Thinking Ahead

05 Friday Feb 2021

Posted by Wyrd Smythe in CS101

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Computer Language magazine, computer programmers, computer programming

I’ve been going through my old Computer Language magazines, and man have things changed since 1984. It’s a fascinating trip through the early days of personal computing.

I was reading an article about using dates in an application and was struck by the prescience of one bit.

Continue reading →

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The Author

Wyrd Smythe

Wyrd Smythe

The canonical fool on the hill watching the sunset and the rotation of the planet and thinking what he imagines are large thoughts.

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