tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467360784939337729.post6617363307291186968..comments2023-10-30T08:29:37.406-07:00Comments on Programming Digressions: Beautiful Code, Beautiful Prosesftwr2020http://www.blogger.com/profile/14201606904750701863noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467360784939337729.post-37248002604918508632019-03-02T04:35:06.998-08:002019-03-02T04:35:06.998-08:00Only, then it can be directed at the tiny kids, to...Only, then it can be directed at the tiny kids, to offer freedom from varied types of diseases.<br />Parents should make certain that meals they're serving for their youngsters <br />are small interval and brimming with nutrient. Ask people around, perform a little research or ask <br />elders before you go searching for your loved one.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467360784939337729.post-30180146117785466662019-02-08T00:19:51.556-08:002019-02-08T00:19:51.556-08:00I simply could not go away your site before sugges...I simply could not go away your site before suggesting that I really loved the usual <br />info a person supply on your guests? Is gonna be again frequently to inspect new postsAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467360784939337729.post-22109362240758814882019-01-31T22:55:51.447-08:002019-01-31T22:55:51.447-08:00I am curious to find out what blog platform you ha...I am curious to find out what blog platform you have been working with?<br />I'm having some minor security issues with my latest site and I would like to find something more <br />secure. Do you have any solutions?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467360784939337729.post-51123178113112247412018-10-03T06:05:31.259-07:002018-10-03T06:05:31.259-07:00Thank you for providing useful content On
Big Da...Thank you for providing useful content On <br /><b><a href="https://onlineitguru.com/big-data-hadoop-online-training-placement.html" title="Big Data Hadoop Online Training | Big Data Hadoop Online <br /><br />Course in India | Online IT Guru" rel="nofollow">Big Data Hadoop Online Training India</a></b><br /><br /><br />Tejutejuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03536889753125110390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467360784939337729.post-45884110919686312942018-08-30T02:57:12.110-07:002018-08-30T02:57:12.110-07:00Much obliged to you, for sharing those brilliantly...Much obliged to you, for sharing those brilliantly expressive perceptions. As the reader of this blog, I'll attempt to do some equity in reacting; there's a great deal that you've pressed in articulating the critical imperatives of, as you pleasantly put it. Keep Sharing<br /><a href="http://www.rstrainings.com/hadoop-online-training.html" rel="nofollow">Big Data Hadoop online training in Hyderabad </a><br /><a href="http://www.rstrainings.com/hadoop-online-training.html" rel="nofollow">Hadoop online training in Bangalore </a><br />pavankannahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14457528924772519671noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467360784939337729.post-23844119072123252722018-03-18T03:57:59.898-07:002018-03-18T03:57:59.898-07:00Thank you for pulling together so many sources to ...Thank you for pulling together so many sources to back up your insights. The English teacher part of me wants to weep with joy while the Business Systems Analyst side of me wonders<br /><br /><a href="http://medlagu.com/search/lagu-nella-kharisma.html" rel="nofollow">download lagu nella kharisma</a>Di kenyothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06449788897352567820noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467360784939337729.post-82669902170221541142017-09-06T05:25:56.547-07:002017-09-06T05:25:56.547-07:00- Thank you, Gregory, for sharing those marvelousl...- Thank you, Gregory, for sharing those marvelously eloquent observations. As the author of this blog, I'll try to do some justice in responding; there's a <em>lot</em> that you've packed in articulating the crucial vitality of, as you nicely put it, "build[ing] things with care".<br /><br />- As a software craftsman, your advice—and I'm <em>constantly</em> learning from my readers—by way of that delightfully evocative phrase ("Build things with care"), and toward which you were building up your detailed comment, is one that'll remain with me for a long time, so thank you!<br /><br />- I have, as you may well have guessed, <em>way</em> more than a passing interest in the field of architecture: My essays, as you may well have discovered by now, are replete with references to architecture—<a href="http://programming-digressions.blogspot.com/2017/08/best-reactive-programming-books-this.html" rel="nofollow">both the software and the bricks-and-mortar kind</a> :)<br /><br />- The picture you've painted with your words in how "Fallingwater cannot be understood by looking at pictures, it has to be experienced" is remarkable. I'll be revisiting your detailed comment many times over to savor the evocative theme—of the timeless way of building—which you've managed to pack in your comment. <br /><br />- Yes, I, too, find myself resonating with how your point regarding Fallingwater that, "You can't visit it without both: entering a sacred space; and stepping back in time". Clearly, I need to visit Fallingwater <em>in person</em> :)<br /><br />- Thank you, Gregory. And yes, I'll do my best in remaining mindful of build[ing] things with care!sftwr2020https://www.blogger.com/profile/14201606904750701863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467360784939337729.post-30346782188448197112017-09-04T16:24:37.051-07:002017-09-04T16:24:37.051-07:00I grew up in the hills of Western Pennsylvania, bu...I grew up in the hills of Western Pennsylvania, but oddly, I never visited Fallingwater until many years later, after I had already moved to Texas and, one summer, decided to revisit the land that I had walked as a boy.<br /><br />Fallingwater cannot be understood by looking at pictures, it has to be experienced. I know that now, it is perhaps the most important lesson I learned from my visit. That some things cannot be explained by words or pictures. You must dwell for a time within the walls, walk down the passageways, peer across landscapes, discuss the origins and history. A picture is worth a thousand words, we say, but to actually exist within a great architecture is to let the soul of the place seep into your bones.<br /><br />A house is a house is a house. They all have walls, and a roof, and windows and floors. But they are not the same. Some houses are just there to cram people in, to keep out the rain, to hold the detritius of our lives.<br /><br />But some houses have a view. And we will value more such a house, and pay more for such a house, without understanding why. Covering your walls with montages of Greece will not replace the experience of waking up in the morning, going to your window, and looking out over the cerulean Mediterranean. <br /><br />Fallingwater matters not just because it is a novel, interesting house by a famous architect. It is a point of integration, between the living space of humans and that of the wilderness, that is thoughtful and respectful. And even more, it represents a point IN TIME that we know will not likely return. You can't visit it without both: entering a sacred space; and stepping back in time. <br /><br />Build things with care. <br />Gregory Matoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02695669454780832427noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467360784939337729.post-84655850049992135362017-09-01T15:04:59.153-07:002017-09-01T15:04:59.153-07:00- Thank you, Ayesha, for making the time to read t...- Thank you, Ayesha, for making the time to read the essay, plus sharing your thoughts via the comment! I'm happy that your interest was engaged and retained by the theme of exploring the (synthesizing) juxtaposition—or <em>comparison</em> as you aptly put it—in a meandering style, of course; once again, <a href="http://programming-digressions.blogspot.com/2017/08/best-reactive-programming-books-this.html" rel="nofollow">alert readers will note the undercurrents of the eponymous charter</a> of <em>Programming Digressions</em> (aka writings that lie at <b>the intersection of culture, software, technology, and science</b>) permeating this and other essays.<br /><br />- As for the quotes I select in adorning my essays, every quote—yes, <em>every</em> single quote—undergoes <b>a battery of challenges</b>:<br />[1] Does the quote have a good chance of adding to the reader's enjoyment in a relevant way, <em>without</em> being cute?<br />[2] Will the quote help with the flow of narrative? <br />[3] Can the reader possibly be confused by a potentially dense or ambiguous quote?<br />[4] Is the quote amplifying the message I'm trying to get across?<br />[5] Will the reader hear a strongly conversational voice, or is the quote making my narrative sound like a <em>book</em>?<br />- To the extent that I succeed—or fail—at making my (essay) drafts run the gauntlet of the challenges above, I will have succeeded—or failed—at <b>serving you, my readers</b>.<br /><br />- I'll add in passing that <b>two essays in particular come to mind</b> where I reckon I had something of a swimmingly good run at enlisting the aid of quotes in making the narrative flow a tad smoother, perhaps: <br />[a] This essay was a thematic analysis—actually, part synthesis as well—of <a href="http://programming-digressions.blogspot.com/2017/08/when-object-orientation-met-functional.html" rel="nofollow"> blending two seemingly unrelated streams of languages</a> (the natural/spoken kind, and the computer/programmatic kind, though the latter should not necessarily be viewed as unnatural, lol).<br />[b] And this one was an (in-depth) <a href="http://programming-digressions.blogspot.com/2015/08/best-clojure-books-are-we-there-yet.html" rel="nofollow">exploration of the finest resource for navigating the Clojure programming landscape</a>.sftwr2020https://www.blogger.com/profile/14201606904750701863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467360784939337729.post-90540349523522370632017-09-01T10:27:14.490-07:002017-09-01T10:27:14.490-07:00Very interesting comparison. Great quotes :)Very interesting comparison. Great quotes :)Ayeshahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00289297981851045228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467360784939337729.post-57499802342942711172017-08-30T05:06:41.894-07:002017-08-30T05:06:41.894-07:00- Adding some afterthoughts...
- I have to confess...- Adding some afterthoughts...<br />- I have to confess that pursuits <em>other</em> than crafting these essays often clamor for my attention and energy; <em>often</em> enough that I'm admittedly left with the sinking feeling that any given essay could have used more polish. Whenever possible, I try to emulate at least the spirit of the brilliant Renaissance artist Michelangelo who, when he was asked about the difficulties that he surely must have encountered in sculpting his masterpiece <em>David</em>, replied with an unassuming and comical description of his creative process:<br /><br /> <em>It is easy. You just chip away the stone that doesn't look like David.</em><br />So there :)<br /><br />- There <em>have</em> been occasions when I've had the luxury of lavishing care on my essays—which I write of course for readers like you—to the extent that I felt a given essay warranted; but those occasions are not as plentiful as I would wish for them to be; yes, the clamor of reality intrudes jarringly often...<br />- Then again, I remain (as a computer scientist/writer/artist), <em>ever</em> mindful of the message contained in a startling phrase—at least that's how the phrase grabbed me on my <em>first</em> encounter with it—that "Real Artists Ship": Seth Godin's bestseller entitled <em>Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?</em> (p.101). Godin goes on to remind us that<br /><br /> <em>Artists don't think outside the box, because outside the box there's a vacuum... Artists think along the edges of the box, because that's where things get done</em>. <br /><br />And if my reader feel compelled to discover more on this very theme, I recommend that you flip forward just another page, to <em>Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?</em> (p.103) for a delicious serving of <em>What It Means to Ship</em>, in an eponymous section.<br />- Finally, I wish to acknowledge your marvelous use of the <em>construction</em> metaphor; that is precisely what I was alluding to when I mentioned at the outset (of this reply) in connection with unpacking the ideas that I had stashed away (in this essay). That you have deconstructed par excellence what I had submitted in this essay—as you noted when remarking about my pulling together a bunch of sources to back up the insights—is writ large in your reply. So I thank you again.<br />- Ah, as to Frank Lloyd Wright's masterpiece <em>Fallingwater</em>, which adorns this essay... Would anyone be surprised that I had contemplated, if ever so briefly during middle school, the prospects of becoming an architect? I guess there's always <em>software</em> architecture lol.<br />- LOL, those sparkly em-dashes, eh? Truth be told, I've found my selfsame elixir in them, yes I have ;)sftwr2020https://www.blogger.com/profile/14201606904750701863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467360784939337729.post-28584170084781542872017-08-30T05:04:44.870-07:002017-08-30T05:04:44.870-07:00- I'm immensely grateful, Beverly, for your th...- I'm <em>immensely</em> grateful, Beverly, for your thoughtfully elegant comment. That you took the time to read the essay multiple times—to unpack the ideas that I had carefully stowed away in it—is tremendously encouraging and heartening. <br />- So I get to wear many hats when going about writing up essays such as this one: (1) the hat of a computer scientist (carving, reassembling, and presenting ideas to get them across in a coherent way), (2) the hat of a writer (taking utmost care to <em>serve</em> my readers, instead of succumbing to the all-too-easy escape hatch of seeking to <em>impress</em> the reader, because I value your all's time immeasurably to even contemplate doing otherwise), and (3) the hat of an artist (weaving together strands of ideas and themes, sometimes tangentially-related though they might seemingly appear, into the faithful whole of a unified tapestry).<br />- To briefly add to that, I'll slip this in, edgewise: I often remind myself of George Bernard Shaw's delightfully memorable words—harbingers of eminently sound advice—that <br /><em>In literature, the ambition of the novice is to acquire the literary language; the struggle of the adept is to get rid of it</em>.<br />- And to your other kind point, where you wonder quizzically—all the while graciously sounding polite notes of civilized diffidence—as to "Where in the world did he get the time, energy, and brain power to construct such an essay?"... Please allow me to say only this much, and parenthetically at that; I won't elaborate further, leaving you and other readers to draw your own conclusions. So <a href="https://programming-digressions.blogspot.com/2015/08/top-thought-leaders-to-follow-if-you.html" rel="nofollow">one of my programming heroes is Guy Steele</a>, the lead author of the Java Language Specification. Steele noted in the Acknowledgments section of his tour de force on programming, entitled <em>Common Lisp: The Language, 2nd Edition</em> how<br /> <em>Most of the writing of this book took place between 10 P.M. and 3 A.M.</em><br />Okay, so that precise window of time wouldn't work for me; I would need to slide it forward—fabulous sliding windows anyone?—so as to have the window start an hour or two <em>past</em> Steele's shutdown time. Enough said :)sftwr2020https://www.blogger.com/profile/14201606904750701863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467360784939337729.post-27438651843900983102017-08-29T09:25:06.350-07:002017-08-29T09:25:06.350-07:00From sparkly em-dashes to Frank Lloyd Wright's...From sparkly em-dashes to Frank Lloyd Wright's masterpiece Fallingwater--I was challenged and intrigued and educated throughout. Thank you for pulling together so many sources to back up your insights. The English teacher part of me wants to weep with joy while the Business Systems Analyst side of me wonders, "Where in the world did he get the time, energy, and brain power to construct such an essay?"BeverlyMundyWeablehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11532731658832749678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467360784939337729.post-43000756698294436002017-08-26T04:23:33.775-07:002017-08-26T04:23:33.775-07:00- Thank you very much, Saqib, for those effusively...- Thank you very much, Saqib, for those effusively keen words of perception and appreciation. As I continue to get kind messages from readers like you, I'm filled with gratitude. <br /><br />- And here I can't help but think to an observation by Pablo Picasso when, as he memorably put it: <em>The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls</em>. <br /><br />- I say so because the charter, if you will, of my blog is to share <strong>Essays at the intersection of culture, software, technology, and science</strong>. Again, thank you.sftwr2020https://www.blogger.com/profile/14201606904750701863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467360784939337729.post-85113975517572636972017-08-26T01:15:03.240-07:002017-08-26T01:15:03.240-07:00Dear Akram, I am entranced by the spirituality you...Dear Akram, I am entranced by the spirituality you have injected into your writing - its going to take me a few readings to absorb all the nuances!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06448323308758061897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467360784939337729.post-32851233333504387782017-08-22T10:34:40.239-07:002017-08-22T10:34:40.239-07:00- I'm simply overwhelmed (in a very good way)...- I'm simply <em>overwhelmed</em> (in a very good way) by the encouraging and warm messages of appreciation that I've received (here, and also personally, elsewhere than via the comments available in these blog posts) in response to this essay! <br />- Thank you all so much :) <br />- Here I will share only one such message; the sender will remain anonymous as I wish to totally respect their anonymity. This particular message went like so: <br /><br /><em>"Akram - Very deep. I enjoyed the premises. Especially beautiful things endure and not out of negativity. I especially like the notion of code in the English prose and the Lords Cricket ground was poignant."</em>sftwr2020https://www.blogger.com/profile/14201606904750701863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467360784939337729.post-77740039881639224682017-08-16T04:17:48.177-07:002017-08-16T04:17:48.177-07:00- Thank you, Aeldra, for making the time to read m...- Thank you, Aeldra, for making the time to read my essay, and for sharing your kind thoughts.<br />- Please know that encouraging comments such as yours make my day, every day :)<br />- Sure thing, I'll check out the datamix link you shared...sftwr2020https://www.blogger.com/profile/14201606904750701863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467360784939337729.post-36132126129755354182017-08-16T01:22:16.969-07:002017-08-16T01:22:16.969-07:00Your website is terribly informative and your arti...Your website is terribly informative and your articles are wonderful. Visit:<a href="https://datamix.co.jp/" rel="nofollow">ビッグデータ セミナー</a>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467360784939337729.post-65487147856240073982017-08-11T06:16:08.731-07:002017-08-11T06:16:08.731-07:00- Lest anyone digested my reply above (in particul...- Lest anyone digested my reply above (in particular the quote from noted professor at Stanford Law School, Larry Lessig) and felt any undercurrents that reminded them of <b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissus_(mythology)" rel="nofollow">Narcissus (mythological figure)</a></b>, let me assure you that nothing could be farther from the truth; if anything, as a computer scientist and software designer, I firmly subscribe to the philosophy of <b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egoless_programming" rel="nofollow">egoless programming</a></b>.<br /><br />- That is a <i>whole</i> new topic... And as I mentioned in closing this essay (I've got way more material on this subject than can be covered in a single essay), other thematic aspects I would have liked to have covered include (1) Donald Knuth's overtures to the programming community of <b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literate_programming" rel="nofollow">Literate Programming</a></b>, (2) the design philosophy of one of my all-time programming heroes (Guy Steele), who is widely regarded as the father of Common Lisp and lead author of the amazing <b><a href="https://docs.oracle.com/javase/specs/jls/se8/html/index.html" rel="nofollow">The Java Language Specification</a></b>, (3) my conversations with Professor John Trimble (author of <i>Writing with Style: Conversations on the Art of Writing</i>) and his telling me about the perspective of John Vlissides (co-author of the GoF book <i>Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software</i>) of the same as well as the author of <i>Pattern Hatching</i>, (4) Other stuff?.sftwr2020https://www.blogger.com/profile/14201606904750701863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467360784939337729.post-40550982353295301332017-08-10T05:18:22.727-07:002017-08-10T05:18:22.727-07:00- I appreciated very much, Bill, your making the t...- I appreciated very much, Bill, your making the time to read my essay, and sharing your thoughts here. <br />- With this essay, I simply carried out my part, meager as it surely is, in resonating with the theme which Larry Lessig (Stanford Law School, author of <em>Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace</em>) had in mind when he noted that "<em>Society has yet to understand the beauty and brilliance that wraps the coder</em>."sftwr2020https://www.blogger.com/profile/14201606904750701863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467360784939337729.post-84182789253329442882017-08-09T19:54:29.200-07:002017-08-09T19:54:29.200-07:00Thank you for an enjoyable, enlightening essay.Thank you for an enjoyable, enlightening essay.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com