Ed The Dev .com » Programming

On becoming an expert

Edward Delaporte — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 02:11:58 +0000

On becoming an expert (and creating stuff you want)

Programming is a complicated yet noble profession

Edward Delaporte — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 02:08:05 +0000

“I have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on software, tools, books, and equipment that tell me what I want to hear — that programming is a complicated yet noble profession which involves mastering lots of technical details and being plugged into the latest technology. But programming is helping people, not any of that stuff.” – Daniel B Markham

Isolating python installations with virtualenv

Edward Delaporte — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 14:47:51 +0000

I write code for linux servers with diverse packages.

Python2.5 is no longer available in Ubuntu Lucid.

Thankfully, Felix Krull is maintaining a repository: pypi.python.org/pypi/virtualenv sudo easy_install virtualenv #Now for some irony - we'll use setuptools to install 'pip', which is a nicer tool that does the same thing, but works better with virtualenv: sudo easy_install pip #Now we setup a project (named edthedev for example): mkdir ~/projects mkdir ~/virtualenv # Create a Python2.5 virtual environment for the edthedev project virtualenv --python=/usr/bin/python2.5 ~/virtualenv/edthedev # Check out the project: cd ~/projects svn co svn.edthedev.com/projects/edthedev # Activate the virutalenv that we created for this project. source ~/virtualenv/edthedev/bin/activate # Try running the project ~/edthedev/bin/addJiraTicket --debug # Look at that, we're missing some required packages... # so use pip to install it into our virtual environment. pip install fpconst # But one of our packages isn't available on pypi, # so we will install it directly from the online source tarball pip install sourceforge.net/projects/pywebsvcs/files/SOAP.py/SOAPpy%200.11.0/SOAPpy-0.11.0.tar.gz/download # Repeat the previous few steps until your program runs properly inside the virtual environment. ~/edthedev/bin/addJiraTicket --debug # We will save a REQUIREMENTS.txt file to include with our project to make things easier for the next user. pip freeze > REQUIREMENTS.txt

Check out the contents of REQUIREMENTS.txt, and notice that it includes every package we’ve installed to get our virtual environment working, inluding the exact package version. You may want to change the ‘==’ signs to ‘>=’ if you trust your dependencies to maintain backward compatibility.

Readme driven development

Edward Delaporte — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 20:49:30 +0000

Tom Preston-Werner advocates for Readme Driven Development.

Points worth highlighting:

“If you’re working with a team of developers you get even more mileage out of your Readme. If everyone else on the team has access to this information before you’ve completed the project, then they can confidently start work on other projects that will interface with your code. Without any sort of defined interface, you have to code in serial or face reimplementing large portions of code.”

And most importantly, “It’s a lot simpler to have a discussion based on something written down. It’s easy to talk endlessly and in circles about a problem if nothing is ever put to text. The simple act of writing down a proposed solution means everyone has a concrete idea that can be argued about and iterated upon.”

Deployment first development

Edward Delaporte — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 16:52:13 +0000

This is a very cool article that encourages us to face our worst fears: packaging and deploying

Live long and code well

Edward Delaporte — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 14:53:03 +0000

Zed Shaw gives advice on staying healthy as a programmer.

Cool People: Geoffrey K. Pullum

Edward Delaporte — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 00:05:08 +0000

In a feat of awesome nerd-ness, Geoffrey K. Pullum wrote the Computability Theory Halting Problem described in Dr. Seuss style.

Favorite Vim commands

Edward Delaporte — Sat, 29 May 2010 20:44:39 +0000

:!python %: Run the current file in Python
:% s/regex/replacement/g: Replace every instance of the regex with the given expression.
:! svn ci %: Check the current file into SVN version control.
ESC 77 G i: Jump to line 77 in the file, then return to edit mode.
ESC $ i: Jump to end of line, then return to edit mode.
ESC A: Start editing at the end of the current line.

More great vim commands.

New Programming Jargon

Edward Delaporte — Sat, 15 May 2010 07:03:57 +0000

GlobalNerdy.com has declared a new list of programming jargon. Color me amused.

Background noise for programming

Edward Delaporte — Sat, 15 May 2010 07:01:33 +0000

It’s a lot easier to write software in a noise-free environment, or predictable consistent background noise. A good set of headphones is a must, and an iPod application or two can be really handy.

White Noise by TMSoft is currently my favorite. Their boat rocking, railroad tracks bumps and various types of rain are great for relaxing just the right amount.

I also highly recommend the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ movie sound track, and just about anything composed by John Williams.

Update: My friend Rob pointed me to the incredibly awesome Trance Around the World Podcast. Highly recommended.