The crossing numbers of graphs is an interesting topic in discrete geometry, graph theory, graph drawing, and computer science. Though simple at its core, it lends itself to ideas that are much more complex. Read more on A Simple Introduction to Crossing Numbers of Graphs…
Software Science
An Introduction to PostgreSQL Materialized Views
Our team recently found itself in a situation where we needed to write a database query to:
- Union several tables together
- Filter out some rows
- Sort the unioned set different ways
This was going to be a very expensive and slow query. Read more on An Introduction to PostgreSQL Materialized Views…
Caching vs. Multiplexing – An Apples & Oranges Analogy
Applications with high performance requirements generally need ways to shed load from overwhelmed services. There are a couple of common ways to approach this, but which one is best for your current project? Read more on Caching vs. Multiplexing – An Apples & Oranges Analogy…
Hexagonal Architecture in Action
I’ve been an advocate of the single-responsibility principle for a long time. I’ve used it effectively on several projects to make sure that each individual class or function has a singular purpose. It’s definitely kept me from making an unholy mess out of some of the more complicated projects I’ve worked on.
However, particularly with large projects, I kept feeling like I needed another layer of abstraction. Something that would help organize all these simple, tiny functions into a cohesive whole. Something that would help guide the structure of the app as new features were added. That’s roughly where my head was at when I began to read about hexagonal architecture.
Read more on Hexagonal Architecture in Action…
When & How to Solve Problems with Genetic Algorithms
Genetic algorithms are a class of algorithms designed to explore a large search space and find optimal solutions by mimicking evolution and natural selection. Potential solutions are randomly found, evaluated, and bred with one another in hopes of producing better solutions.
Read more on When & How to Solve Problems with Genetic Algorithms…
Time and Relative Distance in Source (Code)
Reasoning about a program’s behavior is extremely tricky in the best of circumstances. When you throw in asynchronicity, it is the absolute worst. It’s like your code is trapped in a convoluted time travel movie. You want to perform some operation, but that requires stepping into a time portal and coming out at some indeterminate future date. Who knows what has changed since you’ve been gone? Add a few more asynchronous operations, and your code very quickly becomes a tangled mess of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff. Read more on Time and Relative Distance in Source (Code)…
What is Point-Free Notation & When Does it Make Code More Readable?
Like most fancy-sounding development terms, “point-free notation” actually isn’t that complicated. The “point” refers to the name of an argument for a function. Let’s say you have the following function: Read more on What is Point-Free Notation & When Does it Make Code More Readable?…
Blockchains Explained: A Primer on Cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin, and Ethereum
Blockchains are nothing new: Bitcoin’s blockchain was implemented in 2009, and research papers on blockchains date back to the early ’90s.
While I had heard about Bitcoin and blockchains, I didn’t fully understand them, and the gaps in my knowledge came to light when my grandma asked me to explain Bitcoin to her. This post is intended to explain what blockchains are, how they work, why someone would want to use them, and what’s coming up next. Read more on Blockchains Explained: A Primer on Cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin, and Ethereum…
Pixels and Palettes: Extracting Color Palettes From Images
Color palettes are usually carefully hand-selected to reflect a desired design aesthetic. Although there have been some attempts to procedurally generate palettes, automated palette creation is very difficult. It’s easy to choose some random colors, but generating a coherent and aesthetically pleasing palette in an automated way is not easy.
Read more on Pixels and Palettes: Extracting Color Palettes From Images…
Time Zones Aren’t Offsets – Offsets Aren’t Time Zones
It has been said many times, many ways: Offsets are not time zones, and time zones are not offsets! Some blog posts argue for one over the other. Here, I want to make the difference crystal-clear, so each of us can make our own decisions about when to use which (or both). Read more on Time Zones Aren’t Offsets – Offsets Aren’t Time Zones…