Programming Leftovers

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Apr 04, 2023

• Library Code

  By definition, library code is code that’s written to being reused by programs other than itself that are unrelated to each other. For instance, dplyr (R) and pandas (Python) are common examples of library code: Instead of writing code from scratch to work with tabular data, you might use one of those two fantastic libraries. And you get some additional benefits from using them: [...]

• Learning from community solutions on Exercism - part 2

  I hadn't planned to write this content in this second part of the series, but thanks to Matthias's contribution, I thought it was worthwhile. I've certainly had a good opportunity to dwell on the minutiae of these solutions and to get a better feel for streams of values in jq programs.

  In the next part I'll continue to look at community solutions for some other jq exercises on Exercism, and explain what I missed, observed, and learned.

• Saying Goodbye to GitHub

  I love open-source. And I love giving back. Using GitHub does not align with that goal. The code that was regurgitated by the model is marketed as "AI generated" and available for use for any project you want. Including proprietary ones. It's laundering open-source code. All of the decades of knowledge and uncountable hours of work is being, well, stolen. There is nothing being given back.

  It's not an equal exchange. I can't, in good consciousness, support GitHub. I can't betray the community that sparked and grew my interest in software. I can't betray those millions of people whose shoulder I am standing on. I can't betray what I believe in—giving back.

  So I've left GitHub. It was nice while it lasted.

• Mike Blumenkrantz: The Last Bug

  Release Work

  As everyone is well aware, the Mesa 23.1 branchpoint is definitely going to be next week, and there is zero chance that it could ever be delayed*.

  As everyone is also well aware, this is the release in which I’ve made unbreakable* promises about the viability of gaming on Zink.

  Specifically, it will now be viable*.

  But exactly one* bug remains as a blocker to that. Just one.

• Advanced Techniques for Working with Timezones in PHP

  Dealing with timezones is an essential aspect of working with dates and times in web-based applications. In PHP, setting the default timezone is a critical first step, but there are several advanced techniques for working with timezones that can help you build more robust and accurate applications.

• Paradigm shifts in software development

  I could have given it the title ‘Old Man’s Ranting,’ but even though it would have been more honest, it wouldn’t be very catchy. Why I decided to write this up? I knew something was in the air when my favorite fishmonger, an incredibly friendly and always super-helpful fellow, asked me what I thought about that Chat.GPT thingy. That doesn’t happen often. Like our neighbor, who was a fantastic craftsman, didn’t stop me in the ‘90s to ask me what I thought about object-oriented programming.

• Matt Brown: Retrospective: Mar 2023

  The key decision I made mid-March was to commit to pursuing ventilation monitoring as my primary product development focus.

  Prior to that decision, I hoped to use my writing plan to drive a breadth-first survey of the opportunities for each of my product ideas before deciding which had the best business potential to focus on first. Two factors changed my mind: [...]

• Using LLM Prompts for Source Attribution

  My LLM chatbot is instructed to only reference sources that are provided in the prompt I send to OpenAI. This is essential because I want answers to reflect what I have written rather than more general facts available to ChatGPT 3.5 Turbo. One of my primary considerations when developing my LLM chatbot was to ensure that, where possible, the sources of claims were cited. I devised two methods that, combined, provide both myself and users with information about sources associated with a question:

• Adnan Hodzic: “Kubernetes, Resistance is Futile” – KubeCon & KCD 2023 talk

  A story to tell As part of my career at ING with my previous team, MLP (Machine Learning Platform).

• 12 Best Free Open Source Figma UI Kits and Design Systems For Your Next Project