27 Sunday Oct 2019
Earlier this month, on my other blog, I wrote about the Playfair Cipher, a polygraphic substitution cipher invented by Sir Charles Wheatstone in 1854.
At the time I mused about writing some Python to automate using the cipher, and now I’ve done that, so here it is:
25 Tuesday Jun 2019
Posted in Opinion
Tags
computer code, computer language, computer languages, computer programming, computer science, imperative programming language, language design, Object-Oriented Programming, OOP, programming language
This is another note for a friend: a followup to a discussion about how some programmers really hate Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) languages.
Most of those who hate OOP hold up Imperative Programming (IP) as the One True Way to write code. The key difference is the IP is function (or verb) oriented whereas OOP is object (or noun) oriented.
I’ve never really understood that active dislike. It’s just another way to organize the same code you’d write anyway.
14 Friday Sep 2018
Posted in Opinion
Tags
computer code, computer programmer, computer programming, real programmers, software design, software development, software industry
There’s a general ethic these days — that anyone can code — and like a lot of things, there’s some truth to it, but also some silliness. As usual, it really depends on what we mean by “anyone can code.”
If we mean it in the same way we might say, “anyone can drive,” I think it’s silly. But if we mean in the same way we might say, “anyone can doctor (or lawyer),” well, then I still think it’s silly.
25 Wednesday Nov 2015
Posted in CS101
Tags
computer, computer code, computer programming, computer science, Python code, state engine, state table
In the first two parts of this series I’ve introduced state engines and taken apart a specific instance of an engine. Now it’s time to tie together the design idea with approaches to building a variety of such engines.
Because the programming logic is in the state table, the engine can be fairly generic. That means it’s possible to create a state engine framework you can reuse for a variety of applications.
11 Wednesday Nov 2015
Posted in CS101
Tags
computer, computer code, computer programming, computer science, Python code, state engine, state table
Last time I introduced state engines and state tables. I showed parts of a simple implementation of one in Python. It parsed the language introduced in Little Programming Languages. This post continues that, so be sure you’ve read that first article.
I got as far as the state table implementing the process, and that’s where this post picks up. I’ll also get into the SourceReader class that does the heavy lifting.
08 Sunday Nov 2015
Posted in CS101
At one point in my career, the state engine (SE) was one of my favorite AWK hammers. At the time much of the work involved text processing or, in some cases, serial byte processing (which is not quite the same thing). That sort of thing is right in the wheelhouse for a state engine.
They are a very useful tool and an important part of any programmer’s toolkit.
05 Monday Oct 2015
Posted in CS101
Tags
computer code, computer programmers, computer programming, programming language, real programmers, software development
There is a common tendency, as we crank out code, to think that we’ll come back later and write some really good comments — comments that future reviewers will view with admiration for their clarity, completeness, and humor. But if we’re honest we have to admit: Later never comes. We never go back and write those great comments. Often we don’t write any comments at all other than some placeholder we might dash off at the time.
Which is why Rule #4: Comment As You Go!
22 Monday Dec 2014
Posted in CS101
Tags
computer code, computer language, computer languages, CSS, data, data type, HTML, Java, JavaScript, programming language, variables
A webpage is a text document written in HTML. This document may also contain CSS and/or JavaScript, but it’s basically an HTML text document. You could write one — including the CSS and JavaScript — using just a pencil and paper.
Despite not needing a computer to write, all three are computer languages — they are languages used by, understood by, computers (and trained humans). However only one of those (JavaScript) is a programming language.
This is a brief explanation of which is which and why.
