A story about building an application (including a brief discussion of functional programming)
Posted by Rob Nelson
July 9, 2008
I write Ruby on Rails applications for a living now. This is a pointless story about writing a section of one such application. I wrote this article for work. I've duplicated it here for no particular reason. It is slightly different here though - including a misguided discussion about functional programming that didn't go over very well at work.
Posted in
Ruby
,
Programming
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0 comments
A few tricks with Ruby and Meta-programming
Posted by Rob Nelson
April 18, 2008
I recently had an article published on another blog at another web site. It's a new company I've been working for for a few months. I'm cross posting it for no particular reason. The original article is
here
Posted in
Ruby
,
Programming
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0 comments
Being a rant - with some possible explanations
Posted by Rob Nelson
January 25, 2008
Programming a web application is a horrid mish-mash of
languages, standards, and browser incompatibilities. It's chaos.
It sucks. Why?
Posted in
Programming
,
The Web
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3 comments
Part 2 of a serialized history
Posted by Rob Nelson
September 13, 2007
In which the author transforms from a code hack
into an advanced code hack
Posted in
Programming
,
Misc
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0 comments
I've been programming for 10 years now.
Posted by Rob Nelson
August 14, 2007
I got an Art degree in college. How did I end up as a programmer?
Posted in
Programming
,
Misc
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0 comments
What is the best way to document code?
Posted by Rob Nelson
July 2, 2007
I've tried various methods of documenting my code - but
I have not been satisfied with any method. I don't think this is a
problem the industry has solved yet.
Posted in
Programming
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0 comments
They are taking over
Posted by Rob Nelson
May 10, 2007
There are more and more people getting this bogus
certification and calling themselves a 'Project Manager'. They are trying
to take over the industry. What is the deal?
Posted in
Programming
,
Bureaucracy
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0 comments
IDEs come and go. I've used a lot of them, and never liked any of them
Posted by Rob Nelson
March 28, 2007
In which the author explains why Emacs and/or Vim are still
the best programmer editors around - but maybe not for long. Includes a brief review
of the Wing and Komodo IDEs.
Posted in
Programming
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0 comments
I went to Pycon . I admit it
Posted by Rob Nelson
March 7, 2007
Pycon is a conference dedicated to Python - the programming language. There are lectures, discussions, and various presentations. Herein the author shares some observations gleaned from having attended said conference.
Posted in
Programming
,
Python
,
Education
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0 comments
Some thoughts about the language Haskell
Posted by Rob Nelson
February 27, 2007
Lately I've been trying to learn the
Haskell language because it meets several criteria I think all languages should have.
Posted in
Programming
,
Music
,
Haskell
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0 comments
Being a series of unrelated observations
Posted by Rob Nelson
December 19, 2006
Over the years I've gotten tired of complexity for
complexities sake. But I have to admit it's not always easy to spot. Hype
and peddlers often rule the field of programming.
Posted in
Programming
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0 comments
More useless discussion about computer languages
Posted by Rob Nelson
November 15, 2006
In my last post I bemoaned the state of the
Ruby language. For the sake of completeness
I think I should include some background information,
so that it is more obvious why I feel qualified
to express such an opinion, and what led me to
my conclusions.
Posted in
Ruby
,
Programming
,
Python
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0 comments
In which the author bemoans the state of CSS
Posted by Rob Nelson
October 10, 2006
It's been a while since I've written anything. Months have gone
by as I've been heavily absorbed in the project I last wrote about. I
made by decision about that particular project, but that's not what I
want to write about. Not yet. I want to write about the bane of my existence
as a web programmer. The thing that causes the greatest gnashing of
teeth that I know of. The maddening world of browser incompatabilities,
workaround, known bugs and magical CSS incantations.
Posted in
Ruby
,
Programming
,
The Web
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0 comments
Squint your eyes, and look at a page of code
Posted by Rob Nelson
May 23, 2006
I'm wondering if there is a particular method of syntax that is better for structuring code and revealing the structure of that code visually.
Posted in
Programming
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0 comments
There is a market for small, targeted web applications in large organizations
Posted by Rob Nelson
April 20, 2006
In which the author suggests that many large organizations are dying for thousands of tiny applications to be written to handle their day to day business.
Posted in
Programming
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0 comments
IT shops want people that are replaceable. So they get replaceable people
Posted by Rob Nelson
March 15, 2006
In which the author critiques the practice of organizations to base technology on
how easily they think they can hire into positions.
Posted in
Programming
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0 comments
Superstition is an obstacle in programming
Posted by Rob Nelson
February 17, 2006
There is no doubt in my mind that a lot of what is called programming, and a lot of what is called 'troubleshooting' a computer, is nothing but superstition and delusional thinking.
Posted in
Programming
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434 comments
Every unit in a large organization should have a programmer working with them - instead of for them
Posted by Rob Nelson
January 27, 2006
In which the author expresses the wish for all units i a large organization to have at least one programmer working day to day with them.
Posted in
Programming
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0 comments
Code is a liability
Posted by Rob Nelson
November 21, 2005
Code is not a good thing. If you have a large code-base - you have an albatross.
Posted in
Java
,
Programming
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0 comments
I still can't decide whether professionalizing programming is a good idea or not
Posted by Rob Nelson
November 21, 2005
In which the author discusses a brief history of programming going back 10 years - and struggles with the idea that, anybody can learn to program. Sometimes it's best to leave the programming to programmers - but sometimes it isn't.
Posted in
Programming
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0 comments
The Presentation of a project usually sucks. Why? Here are a few reasons I could think of.
Posted by Rob Nelson
November 14, 2005
I hate giving presentations of new applications. I think most people probably do. I'm wondering if everyone experiences the same things - because most presentations I've given, or that I have witnessed have some of the same characteristics.
Posted in
Programming
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21 comments
As I was envisioning the structure of the code for this blog, I was reminded of the style of module or functional modelling, as opposed to a strictly object-oriented approach
Posted by Rob Nelson
November 9, 2005
I have been working with Turbogears lately. One thing I noticed is that it gives an application a clean interface that is easy to model.
Posted in
Programming
,
Python
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66 comments
I had a thought today that computer languages are boxes that get bigger ad bigger the longer they are used.
Posted by Rob Nelson
November 7, 2005
I have noticed the larger, more established something is. The harder it is to change. This is not a brillant obversation. But I have a picture.
Posted in
Programming
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0 comments
The continual search for making 'programming for the millions'
Posted by Rob Nelson
September 28, 2005
There has been an unending attempt to write languages that non-programmers can use. I contend that all of these languages end up being used by either a) programmers or b) highly technical people that might as well be programmers.
Posted in
Programming
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0 comments
Musings on the tower of babel story and how it relates to the general human endeavour of thought.
Posted by Rob Nelson
September 26, 2005
In which the author makes random observations - centralizing on the fact that the Tower of Babel is a story that repeats itself over and over again - year after year
Posted in
Programming
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0 comments
