The Whiteboard

in some languages some features are maid to be ugly so people wouldn't like writing them...

ugh yeah Jimmy.

But you can do some extremely dirty dirty stuff in it though

user55340

Its kind of interesting seeing how clojure deals with metaprogramming and the jvm.

Just finished replacing a goddamn nested array used in a vb.net app we have here with an array of structs

user55340

10:07 PM

blog.guillermowinkler.com/blog/2014/04/13/decompiling-clojure-i

(The app is old and terrible)

user55340

... and there's likely a question ban.

user20683

He's got a Game Dev account...

10:23 PM

@WorldEngineer Are dead parents some sort of mythical archetype? Or do I need to read more about Joseph Campbell?

user20683

@RobertHarvey Star Wars :)

user20683

basic idea is that you have a hero that goes on a journey, often with the whole burned village thing

user55340

Link from the avation.SE site: cessna150-152.com/transatlantic.htm

user55340

Its about taking a Cessna across the atlantic.

user55340

> Instead, using the general VHF frequency of 131.8, he managed to use a message relay system via passing airliners for the entire trip to the Azores - 1350 nautical miles. Although Leon could talk to air traffic controllers in Gander, New York and Santa Maria, the biggest problem was the disbelief from the airliners when they continually asked for his aircraft type.

Johan Larsson

10:26 PM

do you fly?

must be a tweaked Cessna, don't think a standard flies more than 1000 km on a tank

user55340

@JohanLarsson Nope... but I keep seeing the avation in the hot links.

user55340

> Pointe Noire was reached after a sea crossing of 14 hours and 20 minutes. ATC had no warning of his arrival, as Abidjan hadn't transmitted his flight plan. The tower controller couldn't believe a Cessna 150 had flown so far and according to Leon, "He insisted that I come to the tower immediately, as he had never seen an insane man before!"

a good tailwind will boost a lot

user55340

user55340

That's a 66 gallon additional tank.

user55340

10:29 PM

There's also this image for how do you get a 717 to Hawaii.

user55340

@MichaelT How much weight does that add? I'm guessing 7 pounds per gallon of additional fuel, plus the tank itself.

Q: How do airliners get from the factory to the client if the aircraft does not have the required range

there's a question about there on aviation...

19

Today I flew with an Embraer 190 of Kenya Airways. Checking in the tech specs this aircraft has a range of roughly 2900 km. Considering it is built in Brasil, I was wondering how do they deliver it to Africa since they would have to cross the Atlantic Ocean which I suppose is more than 2900 kms o...

user55340

> The Cessna's all up weight with the extra tank was 2,050 lbs. This was 500 lbs. over gross. The FAA had approved the increase of 30% over book weight. In spite of this, the night takeoff was an anticlimax. The little 150 lifted off in 400 meters and her climb performance was the same as would be expected on a highveld summer afternoon.

Night takeoff. Because colder air is denser.

user55340

10:31 PM

> The rest of the flight was completed without incident, arriving in Gaborone on Saturday 27th August after covering 9,700 nautical miles of which 7,000 had been over the ocean. The time taken had been 107 hours and Leon had spent almost as much on bribes in Africa as the entire cost of fuel for the trip.

Q: Is a WeakValueDictionary appropriate for a pubsub manager?

Hmm, hard question over in python

0

I find I learn best when I have to start from step 0, and since pubsub has not been an intuitive process for me to grok, I decided to make my life difficult and build a pubsub library for Python. I've managed to keep the basics of it pretty light and everything is just a subclass of regular cont...

python pubsub

user20683

@Zeroth Where's Martijn Pieters when you need him?

user55340

10:50 PM

He'll show up sooner or later... or he might already be writing an epic answer.

user20683

@AlainJacometForte Welcome to the Whiteboard. Home of various things including career advice.

user55340

That said, he's also a UK'er and its middle of the night there...

Q: Question about levelling skills as a software developer

Thanks @WorldEngineer

user20683

@MichaelT true but who knows

user55340

@WorldEngineer His python sense might be tingling...

user20683

10:52 PM

@MichaelT Were that I did more OO in python

user55340

(and context for our newest visitor)

user55340

0

I want to ask a question about the resources available for a self-taught developer to level skills and conceptual understanding with a professional CS undergraduate curriculum. Is this a suitable question for this site?

discussion on-topic-definition

I've been a web developer for ~15 years. Currently working with Node.js

and Angular

But sometimes I bump into concepts that need an understanding of computer science, like the history and reason for Dependency Injection, Memory handling, the concept of Scope, among many other things

Or software testing as a generalized topic

@AlainJacometForte not to mention the Chompsky category's homomorphisms

Not to mention.

10:56 PM

I mean it.

So I don't know where to look in order to level up

Don't mention them.

I'm watching you.

user55340

@AlainJacometForte we're safe as he doesn't mention the 'm' word... (and I'm joking)

I've been thinking in taking the Udacity courses, which seem very CS-oriented.

user55340

You've got several bits there... some of which are computer science, others are software engineering.

10:57 PM

@AlainJacometForte oh, oh, no I know just what you should read if you want some more CS fundamentals

learnyouahaskell.com/introduction

user55340

(this looks intreaguging - at least a publishing house I've seen before: link.springer.com/… )

Just read that, you'll be set.

If that doesn't seem to cover enough for you, then I'd suggest reading Concepts, Techniques, and Models of Computer Programming, just whiz through that and you'll be good.

Nice. Thanks

I'm helping.

user55340

Don't thank him until after you understand the 'm' word.

user20683

10:59 PM

@AlainJacometForte You might consider the "Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs"

user20683

there's a JS version

user20683

or "Think like a Computer Scientist"

@MichaelT I thought is was the T word?

@WorldEngineer I prefer the much denser CS book "Think like a Nascar Driver"

I wasn't sure if "Computer Science" was the topic I should be focusing on. You guys seem to confirm it.

user55340

11:00 PM

Software testing is something that is more Software Engineering: sebokwiki.org/wiki/…

I was in doubt of whether I should look into Software Engineering as a topic

@AlainJacometForte I'm making jest; it's 5pm here. Do ignore me unless I'm giving actual advice. I hope you can tell the difference, but even I can't always...

user55340

The software engineering isn't things you'll find in a college class easily.

@AlainJacometForte all seriousness, what makes you think you need to study CS more closely? What do you look to gain?

user20683

@MichaelT You'll find grad level classes in it

11:03 PM

Or the O word(opt-i-mize)

user55340

And don't let the "engineering" part scare you... they just put there to make the title longer.

@JimmyHoffa I'm hoping it will make me a better programmer. Give me knowledge to construct better algorithms.

user55340

Ahh... the fundamentals... data structures and algorithms then.

@AlainJacometForte CS stuff is good for giving you a better concept of algorithms, that's true. But if you've been a programmer for 15 years there's likely something more specific you're feeling you need to bolster

I'm hoping to get a deeper understanding of things, and also avoid bumping into unknown Words so often

11:04 PM

don't just memorize them to reproduce them

user20683

@AlainJacometForte get something like Cormen's algorithms book and code your through it

user55340

amazon.com/Introduction-Algorithms-Thomas-H-Cormen/dp/…

@AlainJacometForte don't worry about terminology of deeper understanding of "things" broadly - if you want to grow your knowledge it's best to have a specific focus, at least to start

user20683

THat's the one

there will always be unknown words thought up by business people to generate buzz

11:05 PM

Well, programming is easy(largely). Its the construction of maintainable, readable, high-quality software that fits users needs that's hard

user20683

@ratchetfreak Or just made up to justify their paycheck

and even harder to do it on schedule, and under-budget.

The Algorithm Design Manual is a free online PDF that is a very high quality book as well, much cheaper than the Cormen book which is seen as the standardbearer

user55340

programming.oreilly.com/2014/02/…

I mean a good/decent programmer thinks it up and a ignorant marketer dude throws it around like singles in a stripclub...

11:06 PM

Take this phrase for example: "Testability story: unit-testing, end-to-end testing, mocks, test harnesses."

@AlainJacometForte have a read here granted it's not about the exact topic you refer to, but at the end he goes over a broad section of CS concepts and what to read and how to approach studying them which can be helpful if you're not sure where to start with learning all the topics

I'm familiar with TDD, but those are concepts that relate to testing as a general topic

@AlainJacometForte That is decidedly not related to CS

user55340

unit testing and end to end testing are two types of tests... mocks and test harnesses are tools for doing the tests.

CS studies will not prepare you for thinking about testability, or even touch on the topic really.

11:07 PM

honestly I just look for the wikipedia article when I see something I don't understand

@ratchetfreak we reference learners are lucky. Most are unable to pick up concepts correctly from references alone rather requiring more step-by-step tutorial style format to their information for ingestion.

Perhaps I should look into the particular areas rather than seek a generalized one? (i.e. Software Testing)

user55340

unit test is on the order of "make sure that the add(a,b) function returns a+b" while an end to end test is "we are going to test logging in through submitting an order and making sure the back end picks it up right and sends it to the warehouse..."

hell I got a shortcut in my browser, I just need to type wpen <word> and 9 times out of 10 I'm in the correct place

9

A: C# - Unit test, Mock?

You need to learn to write unit tests on your own. Start off on the right foot with good comprehension of terminology that many people make mistakes regarding: Unit test: Testing a single unit of code, very small atomic test. Integration test: Testing multiple units of code integrated together,...

user55340

11:10 PM

(an end to end test I did with a credit card application at one point was "enter this data in for the credit card application, verify that it went through capital one's processing, was approved, and then use the credit card number they generated at a register on the test network")

Well, I am aware that the answers are online, which is the great thing about this. I was just hoping I could once and for all get all the juicy concepts instead of always having to stop and Google things

user20683

should have closed as too broad

user55340

If you want to get down to the very basics, shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920025481.do is an interesting book.

@MichaelT that's indeed the bone of it

Alright, I'll look into all the links you guys provided

Thanks !

user55340

One thing you might want to consider... (no, I am not paid by oriely or get any kickbacks) is the Safari Books Online. safaribooksonline.com

user55340

11:13 PM

You get access to a LOT of books and videos... including many of the ones that I linked earlier.

Oh, I didn't know it. Looks good. Thank you

user55340

One of the things I am frustrated with where I live is the lack of good tech books in the book store... and then when you do get the good tech books on the framework you're using... its out of date in 6 months.

user55340

Thus, safari books gives you access to all of them, and keeps you up to date with the latest editions.

user55340

Not all the publishers, but there's a good number of them in there.

and to get a good book written and published takes about that long...

user55340

11:16 PM

Oh! On unit testing..

user55340

[amazon.com/Quality-Code-Software-Principles-Practices/dp/…

Oh, great!

Thanks!

oneboxed amazon needs to be smaller...

user55340

(easy enough to edit after the fact)

user55340

But you'll also find things like Clean Code on Safari Books...

user55340

11:19 PM

You can get some very up to date books - especially from Oriely itself: my.safaribooksonline.com/book/programming/javascript/…

user55340

(that one was just published the other day - already on there)

@MichaelT There's something I like about reading a paper book, though

I can't get used to reading a 100+ page document in the computer

go to a print shop and kill some trees then :)

user55340

@AlainJacometForte absoulately... but I glare at the 3x copies of ios 2 - ios 4 documentation I have sitting around, now completely useless.

Yeah, I do feel bad about trees

But, I don't have that many books

user55340

11:21 PM

Note that when I do use Safari Books, its typically with the ipad app next to the computer... its bookish.

Perhaps Kindle is the answer

if you do print one out try to get a timeless one that doesn't focus on the buzzword du jour

There's no way to save this conversation right ?

user20683

@AlainJacometForte it's autosaved

that's how most of these things end up as

user20683

11:24 PM

there's a room transcript

oh that way...

user55340

There's also the bookmark.

yeah there is a transcript

Ah there it is, thanks

user20683

@AlainJacometForte bookmark this link

user20683

11:25 PM

31 mins ago, by Alain Jacomet Forte

I've been a web developer for ~15 years. Currently working with Node.js

with permalinks to individual chat messages

user55340

On CS books and topics

32 mins ago, 31 minutes total – 103 messages, 6 users, 2 stars

Bookmarked 8 secs ago by MichaelT

user20683

There we go

Great.

Alright, I'm off. Thanks for the help.

user55340

Btw, anyone got a too broad close vote for programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/236057/… ?

11:26 PM

no prob

user55340

@AlainJacometForte stop by any time.

user55340

(fortunately, of the standard close voters, only I'm out of the close voteability on that for being on the first round... so its still got a good chance)

user55340

That said, the OP of the question will likely argue about the close vote.

user55340

(though I'd love to toss a 'migrate to information security flag on there'... but I don't think they'd appreciate it)

I indeed don't think it is appropriate there

user55340

11:30 PM

@ratchetfreak Its not exactly appropriate anywhere.

and the answer would boil down to "company policy, ask IT"

user55340

It boils do to "you're crazy if you're worried about Microsoft stealing your code from your computer"

I'd be more worried about google...

user55340

> Would you use a third party anti-virus or would you fear they could steal your code?

user55340

... You're worried about norton stealing your code too?

11:33 PM

you don't know what they have been doing all these years between all those viruses...

user20683

@ratchetfreak E-Bola

user20683

:P

user55340

newscientist.com/article/…

many of those "attacks" depend on soo many things going right that it is ridiculous...

user55340

Or arstechnica.com/security/2013/12/…

user55340

11:36 PM

Its more a "set up some malware to communicate via audio microphone / speaker to jump the airgap"

user20683

I could have sworn there was some academics working on chip vibrations or something

user20683

maybe that was it

user55340

@WorldEngineer gizmodo.com/…

user55340

Was that it?

that would depend on speaker and mike response and

user20683

11:37 PM

@MichaelT That was the one

user55340

@ratchetfreak They're talking about 20 bps - its not that fast (or likely noticable)

Requires physical access to the machine.

If an attacker has that, you have bigger problems than your computer humming.

unless they also need it fast and breaking it open take a lot of time...

user55340

Its more a "its interesting how much data leaks out of a regular computer"

Don't know if anyone finds this interesting or not, but in my current application, I use static to punch a hole between several data pipelines so that they can share some data. Don't know if this makes me a bad person or not.

user55340

11:41 PM

The trick is reversible gates! Because they are reversible there is no information destruction that leaks out as heat or other.

user55340

Toffoli gate

In logic circuits, the Toffoli gate (also CCNOT gate), invented by Tommaso Toffoli, is a universal reversible logic gate, which means that any reversible circuit can be constructed from Toffoli gates. It is also known as the "controlled-controlled-not" gate, which describes its action. It has 3-bit inputs and outputs; if the first two bits are set, it inverts the third bit, otherwise all bits stay the same. Background A logic gate L is reversible if, for any output y, there is a unique input x such that applying L(x) = y. If a gate L is reversible, there is an inverse gate L′ wh...

but much of the timings break down when it is not the only thing the computer is doing

user55340

Fredkin gate

The Fredkin gate (also CSWAP gate) is a computational circuit suitable for reversible computing, invented by Ed Fredkin. It is universal, which means that any logical or arithmetic operation can be constructed entirely of Fredkin gates. The Fredkin gate is the three-bit gate that swaps the last two bits if the first bit is 1. Definition The basic Fredkin gate is a controlled swap gate that maps three inputs (C, I1, I2) onto three outputs (C, O1, O2). The C input is mapped directly to the C output. If C = 0, no swap is performed; I1 maps to O1, and I2 maps to O2. Otherwise, the two outp...

user55340

(... @WorldEngineer I still think that question is either from a paranoid person, or we're being trolled)

user20683

@MichaelT both maybe

user55340

11:46 PM

Kind of by definition, a crazy person isn't trolling...

user55340

(though I might be using too old school of a definition)

or a semi paranoid person asking a legit question (how can I secure confidential code in development) letting his imagination run wild during the writing of the question...

user55340

Glancing at CS.SE, I'm going with 'student letting imagination run wild and trolling'

user20683

@MichaelT that's the vibe I get

user55340

Everything is so serious when you're in college... I mean, that the corporations are spying on everyone! Everyone I tell you! There's no privacy anymore! We have to take every measure we can to protect what privacy we do have and take it back from the government!

user20683

11:51 PM

go offline

user20683

outside even

user55340

Get a typewriter....

Go off the grid. Like John Conner.

there's some nice caves in the south of belgium that are open...