Author Archives: Graham

About Graham

I make it faster and easier for you to create high-quality code.

Programming language advent

Posted on 2014-12-01 by Graham

http://shape-of-code.coding-guidelines.com/2014/12/01/algol-60-awk-algol-68-ada-apl-and-assembler/ The first article, containing languages beginning with ‘A’, is linked above. I can tell this is going to be a month of reading.

Posted in tool-support | Leave a comment

That can’t possibly work.

Posted on 2014-11-27 by Graham

A while back I was at a Facebook developer event, talking about techniques for analysing Objective-C. My summary of the problem was something like “it’s one of those things that works pretty well in the ivory towers of practice but … Continue reading →

Posted in learning | Leave a comment

Détournement and Recuperation

Posted on 2014-11-21 by Graham

Letterists International probably invented the ideas behind free software and creative commons. They created the idea of détournement, in which existing mainstream logos and slogans were subverted for anarchist, satirical and other radical political purposes, like the picture of the … Continue reading →

Posted in philosophy after a fashion | Leave a comment

Today’s surprisingly short workflow-improving win

Posted on 2014-11-20 by Graham

When I have a TODO comment (or a #error in code, which is how I frequently do TODOs), I switched to writing the commit message I want to be able to use when I’ve fixed the TODO. Then I write … Continue reading →

Posted in code-level, documentation | Leave a comment

Meritocracy is a myth. And our belief in it is holding back the tech industry from getting better. The intent to be meritocratic is not a myth, but we know what road is paved with good intentions. —from Tech’s Meritocracy … Continue reading →

Posted on 2014-11-17 by Graham | Leave a comment

http://computinged.wordpress.com/2014/11/13/why-nerd-culture-must-die-not-everyone-can-teach-themselves/ Truth.

Posted on 2014-11-13 by Graham | Leave a comment

http://queue.acm.org/detail.cfm?id=2687011 There’s no such thing as a General-purpose processor, and belief in such a device is harmful.

Posted on 2014-11-09 by Graham | Leave a comment

Joe Armstrong thinks we don’t need modules in software. Instead, all functions should have unique names and be published in a global database.

Posted on 2014-11-08 by Graham | Leave a comment

http://shape-of-code.coding-guidelines.com/2014/11/06/cobol-2014-perhaps-the-definitive-final-version-of-the-language/ Cobol now has function pointers :O

Posted on 2014-11-06 by Graham | Leave a comment

Apple noticed there are programmers outside the valley If my summary sounds cynical, it’s because I’m cynical of the old Apple way where they only hired engineers who wanted to relocate within the shadow of (whatever the big thing in … Continue reading →

Posted on 2014-11-04 by Graham | 1 Comment