September 2007
7 posts
1 tag
Methods to the Aha
When I was a fresh CS major at CMU, I took the standard 15-251 Great Theoretical Ideas of Computer Science class. The professor Steven Rudich introduced us to some amazing topics. Even though I was never able to use it to its full potential, the most valuable thing taught was what he called the “aha! method”. In other words, he taught that there was a method to getting to the point...
1 tag
Programming Is Writing
Programming is just like writing. Prose that is.
Specifically, I’m talking about essays — prose in which the purpose is to explain something. Which is exactly what a program does. It explains an algorithm.
Both programming and writing are constructive, as in the constructive logic sense. Writing a program is writing a proof, is writing an essay. In both, it is desirable to be clear...
Of Little Importance
I’ve been going crazy writing recently. I’ve got 7 other posts that I started this week that I haven’t had a chance to finish. The reason I’ve been having so many ideas for posts is partly because I’ve been seeing so many patterns. So why have I been seeing so many patterns about programming?
I went to hang out with my crazy-cool cousins this weekend. The kind of...
1 tag
PL Feature Wish List
Here’s my programming language feature wish list:
Parallelism using list comprehensions like nesl
Seamless parallelism over a network like erlang, with ability to extend with encryption/security
Turing-complete type-system like Qi, but with implicit runtime verification
Turing-complete macros like Lisp (i.e. extending the compiler), but maybe just the ability to have function parameters...
Why Tagging Doesn't Work
It requires refactoring.
For example, when I bookmark something on delicious, I tag it with all the things I think are relevant to that site at the time. But the way I categorize sites and what things I believe to be important change over time. So the only way I can search through my bookmarks to find all the things related to a certain topic that I wasn’t even aware of before is to...
The Mind Is Strict
Don’t think of a red ball. □
:-P
Birthday Patterns
Here’s a cool experiment to try. Don’t read ahead without actually doing this though or you’ll ruin the results.
Choose a few people and categorize them. In one group, those who you consider to have a “down-to-earth look”, and in the other group, those who you consider to be “hot”. That’s right. You must choose one. No one can be in both...