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jadero

@ jadero @programming.dev

Posts
4
Comments
216
Joined
3 yr. ago

Fully retired now and one of the things I'd like to do is get back into hobby programming through the exploration of new and new-to-me programming languages. Who knows, I might even write something useful someday!

  • RIP Pascal creator Niklaus Wirth

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  • It's been so long since I first read that that I forgot about this section:

    Operation activation

    Another example that illustrates our strategy is the activation of operations. Programs are not executed in Oberon; instead, individual procedures are exported from modules. If a certain module M exports a procedure P, then P can be called (activated) by merely pointing at the string M.P appearing in any text visible on the display, that is, by moving the cursor to M.P and clicking a mouse but- ton. Such straightforward command activation opens the following possibilities:

    1. Frequently used commands are listed in short pieces of text. These are called tool-texts and resemble customized menus, although no special menu software is required. They are typically displayed in small viewers (windows).
    1. By extending the system with a simple graphics editor that provides captions based on Oberon texts, commands can be highlighted and otherwise decorated with boxes and shadings. This results in pop-up and/or pull-down menus, buttons, and icons that are “free” because the basic command activation mechanism is reused.

    1. A message received by e-mail can contain commands as well as text. Commands are executed by the recipient’s clicking into the message (without copying into a special command window). We use this feature, for example, when announcing new or updated module releases. The message typically contains receive commands followed by lists of module names to be downloaded from the network. The entire process requires only a few mouse clicks.

    Anyone remember the Melissa worm? Or perhaps been negatively affected by clicking a link in an email?

    Every convenience comes at a cost. I wonder if he ever revisited that concept with an eye to how similar capabilities became the bane of our existence.

  • RIP Pascal creator Niklaus Wirth

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  • I wrote this elsewhere:

    He brought me much joy in tinkering, first with Pascal, then with Oberon.

    In looking up and then reading that article, I discovered that not only has Oberon been actively maintained, but that there is a successor, A2. Now that I'm back to being a hobbyist, I look forward to more joyful tinkering courtesy of his great mind.

    Edit: in the course of further investigation, I found many dead links. But I also found this A2 repository that shows activity from as recently as 2 months ago.

  • iTWire - Computer science pioneer Niklaus Wirth passes away

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  • He brought me much joy in tinkering, first with Pascal, then with Oberon.

    In looking up and then reading that article, I discovered that not only has Oberon been actively maintained, but that there is a successor, A2. Now that I'm back to being a hobbyist, I look forward to more joyful tinkering courtesy of his great mind.

    Edit: in the course of further investigation, I found many dead links. But I also found this A2 repository that shows activity from as recently as 2 months ago.

  • What's the best website to learn and practice SQL?

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  • I think the general idea has a lot of merit. I don't know about execution records specifically (no death penalty in Canada for many decades), but government data sets in general.

    I retired from database stuff a decade ago, but would jump at the chance to take a course that used Canadian data from various levels of government and public institutions.

  • Fossil: A Git alternative with batteries included

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  • Thanks. I guess it's the perpetual problem of learning something new. Instead of starting at the beginning, we trick ourselves into thinking that we can skip the fundamentals. Then we have difficulty and think that the problem is one of complexity or just over our heads instead of our approach.

  • Fossil: A Git alternative with batteries included

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  • I am in a perpetual wonderland of git confusion, but this was a good read. And maybe I now have a pathway to enlightenment.

  • Cloud engineer gets 2 years for wiping ex-employer’s code repos

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  • Stop nesting ternaries in JavaScript

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  • Oh, I didn't know that Excel could do JS. I haven't touched it since I got out of the field a decade or so ago.

    One of the things I did was quite a bit of Excel consulting and training. I remember the joy of trying to decode massive formula cells, especially when there were nested IF()s. My rule of thumb was that anything with more than three functions in one formula got converted to a custom function, even if it didn't have general utility.

    I found that anyone who could construct and understand those massive formulas were generally capable of dealing with the equivalent VBA with a bit of training. Also, it was generally true that if they couldn't handle the relevant VBA, they were in no position to deal with massive formulas anyway.

  • Stop nesting ternaries in JavaScript

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  • Or anywhere for that matter. Have you got nested IF()s in Excel? For crying out loud, pop into VBA and write it up as a custom function like a human being.

  • It's that time of the year again!

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  • Beeper Mini is the iMessage for Android app we’ve been waiting for - Mishaal Rahman

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  • I guess I'm out of the loop on this one. Why is RCS crap? A quick search didn't turn up anything obvious.

  • A ‘Software Developer’ Knows Enough to Deliver Working Software Alone and in Teams

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  • I'm pretty sure non-programmers share much of the blame. Here's what I imagine goes through the minds of most people, especially management types.

    "Oh, a nerd. Great we need another nerd in here because things are not moving fast enough."

    I've had job offers for everything from equipment maintenance and repair (because there was a PLC hooked up) to network administrator. It's all computers, right?

    When trying to use some of the truly atrocious stuff that gets rolled out with a web interface, I get the distinct impression that random "nerds" are dropped into random slots. There is no consideration that maybe saying "nerd" is like saying "doctor". If that's all you look for, you might get an economist instead of a surgeon.

  • Day 0 - Creating Your Own Server in the Cloud (but cheaper)

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  • I've heard that, but have difficulty understanding how that would happen.

    I guess I could see running a free trial (as opposed to free tier) without payment information getting locked, but anything marked "always free" should continue indefinitely.

    The worst that's ever happened to me was that an instance I started and then did nothing with was shutdown after a period of no use. I got an email before that happened and it was just a shutdown, not a lockout or removal. All I had to do to was log in to the console and start it up again when I was ready to move forward.

  • The Trick to Going Faster in Software Development is to Take Smaller Steps

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  • I convinced my managers to move away from waterfall to a more iterative process using a financial analogy. Pretty much everyone understands the concept of compound interest as it applies to both debt and savings.

    I framed the release of small but functional components as the equivalent of small, regular deposits to a retirement account, where benefits start to accrue immediately and then build upon each other with every "deposit". I framed the holding off of a major project until completion as the accumulation of debt with no payment plan. I also pointed out that, like a sound investment strategy, the "portfolio" of features might require adjustment over time in order to meet objectives under changing circumstances, adding substantial risk to any monolithic project.

  • Programmer tries to explain binary search to the police

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  • Not if he's off screen. It's only a visual cue if it's captured by the video.

    If you have a separate video of the guy falling over dead, you can use that video to get a window of time to view in the other video, but one video that captures only parts of the scene can easily leave you with no visual cues.

  • Any recommendations for a career change?

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  • Just to add to the "completely change fields" thing in light of your "move to the woods" option:

    I did the move to the woods thing (technically, bald prairie...) and found that there were enough other people out there to still find work. And where I moved to, they were desperate enough for good workers that most employers were willing to train, including picking up the tab for short courses. Some of the jobs were pretty shitty (sometimes literally: I spent a few years cleaning out clogged sewer lines), but, for me, the rest of the lifestyle more than made up for it (we found a place on the shore of a lake).

    Although my objective was to just ditch tech, once word of my past got around, I had to beat them off with a stick.

    I was probably in a bit of a different place, too. My main objective was to bridge the decade between "I just don't want to work anymore" and my actual retirement.

    Also, my wife might have gained more from the move than I did!

    If you explore this route, I recommend looking into service organizations to join in the area. Joining one rapidly turns you from outsider to insider. Mine was volunteer fire and rescue.

  • Removed

    Is this really that bad?

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  • It's not clear just what you are trying to accomplish. Is the bot signup field a tripwire to detect and prevent bots or do you legitimately allow bots in the same way Lemmy does?

    Either way, I think your intention can be better expressed in other ways.

  • what caused you to get into Linux?

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  • I think many try to some extent, but we don't exactly leave a lot of room to manoeuvre. Classrooms don't seem to work without substantial conformity, bills have to be paid, employers catered to, and even just plain social pressure to not stray too far off the beaten path.

  • what caused you to get into Linux?

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  • I guess we're of similar vintage. I'm using Linux now because BeOS never quite made it to being suitable as a daily driver and Warp ultimately died.

    There's also the fact that I'm retired now. There is little to be gained in doing what anyone else is doing, so I might as well do as I please.

  • I wrote a pong clone in Golang with Raylib

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  • Sometimes removing the mystery enhances the joy, sometimes it opens more joyous mysteries, sometimes it sucks out the joy. Read on at your own risk.

    Pong is one of the earliest video games. There are a number of ways to play it online. Here is one of many examples.

    Golang is a computer programming language.

    Raylib is a library used to simplify the creation of video games. My initial thought, based on the name, was that it was specifically a ray tracing library, but it seems to be much more than that.

    Following the actual link in the submission takes you not to a playable version of the game, but to the website where you can download the actual program code to run on your computer. Having the actual program code allows for inspection of the code, implying that the request for comment is not just on playability, but how well the code itself is written.