In The Semantics of Garbage Collection, I explained why I don’t like the term garbage collection. I also introduced the term resource recovery, and suggested that this change in naming could generate a useful change in viewpoint. Many programmers have been indoctrinated with the belief that garbage collection is the solution to all memory problems,… Read More »
I have a confession to make. I’ve never really been comfortable with garbage collection. Now, before you dismiss me as a Luddite who has obviously never worked with an advanced programming language, let me explain. I’m familiar with many different forms of garbage collection. I have worked in languages with and without garbage collection. I’ve… Read More »
In LinuxDevCenter.com: Tales of Optimization and Troubleshooting [Jun. 03, 2004], Howard Feldman presents three examples of troubleshooting and fixing bottlenecks. One thing I really like about this article is the methodical way the author goes about solving these problems. Having tried to teach troubleshooting to entry-level programmers, I know that it is very hard to… Read More »
The subject of naming in code continues. In O’Reilly Network: Ill-monikered Variables and Creative Class Naming [May. 18, 2004], Tim O’Brien adds his comments to the topic of naming in programs. He picks up with Andy Lester’s earlier comments and goes a little further. O’Brien makes the suggestion that creative names are much better than… Read More »
What is it about programmers that cause them to latch onto one approach and try to apply it to every problem? Maybe it’s a characteristic of people in general. Each new paradigm, methodology, or even language seems to grab hold of many programmers and make them forget anything they ever knew. They seem to develop… Read More »
XML Bible Elliotte Rusty Harold IDG Books, 1999 As computer books go, this book is old. However, it does a spectacular job of handling all of the nitty-gritty details of XML. I first stumbled across this book when it was new. The only really definitive information you could find on XML was the W3C recommendation… Read More »
XML in a Nutshell Elliotte Rusty Harold and W. Scott Means O’Reilly, 2001 This is a good overview of XML-based technologies as of 2001. If you are looking for a deep understanding of the uses of XML and related technologies, this is not the right book for you. However, if you are looking for a… Read More »
Recently, I stumbled across Mental State Called Flow and was reminded of an idea I had about flow and Miller’s Magic Number. When in the state of flow, I’ve sometimes had the experience that the problem I was working on was much easier to understand than it seemed to be when I was not in… Read More »
In Programmer Musings: More Thoughts on Mastering Programming I referenced the four levels of competence without being able to remember the original source. According to Four Levels Of Competence, the source is the Kirkpatrick Model by Donald L. Kirkpatrick.
Like any natural language, most programming languages support idioms. According to the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, an idiom is A speech form or an expression of a given language that is peculiar to itself grammatically or cannot be understood from the individual meanings of its elements, as in keep tabs on. A… Read More »