22 Monday Nov 2021
Posted in Python
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 be 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.
10 Wednesday Nov 2021
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.
02 Tuesday Nov 2021
Posted in CS101
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.
01 Monday Nov 2021
Tags
I haven’t put nearly the energy into this blog as I have my main blog, Logos Con Carne. My intentions are good, but 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.
03 Saturday Oct 2020
Posted in Python
For me, Python modules seem to divide into two basic classes: library modules and application modules. The former contain basic building blocks, but the latter has top-level routines the operating system invokes when it runs the application.
Today I thought I’d post about the application framework I use for all apps.
01 Tuesday Sep 2020
Tags
Cartesian product, computer code, Japanese multiplication method, math, multiplication, Pillow (PIL fork), Python code
On my regular blog I just posted about a Japanese visual multiplication method. It’s a cute trick that ties into the notion of grid multiplication techniques. (In general, multiplication techniques are of some interest due to the Mandelbrot set, which requires multiplying large numbers lots of times.)
It turns out code to generate the patterns was a lot easier than I thought it would be. The hardest part was generating the diagonal summing lines.
15 Friday May 2020
Posted in Fun
Tags
This post contains some simple code for calculating the square root of 2 and then generating the bits of the value.
It’s a companion to a post on my other blog.
07 Thursday May 2020
Last time I showed you the functions necessary for Life — for John Conway’s game of Life, that is. We ended up with a set of functions you can use to generate frames of a Life session.
This time I’ll show you an object-oriented version (a Life class) along with some other tweaks to make things look nicer.
03 Sunday May 2020
You may have heard that mathematician John Conway died last April. To his everlasting dismay, most people only know him for his “game” of Life (which he considered trivial and inferior to his real mathematical work). Unfortunately for Conway, his Life game is fascinating.
To honor his passing, I whipped up a Python version that I thought I’d share. Python is about the only language I’ve used a lot in which I’ve never implemented Life, so high time I did, right?
25 Saturday Apr 2020
Posted in Python
Tags
Aspect-Oriented Programming, computer language, programming language, Python 101, Python code, Python decorator
Last time I began exploring Python decorators, which are a way of having one function “wrap” another function. Because the wrapper has access to both the input parameters and the return value, it can modify these values (unbeknownst to the inner function).
This time I pick up where I left off by exploring decorators modifying return values, decorators that take parameters, and decorators in classes.
The Hard-Core Coder 