Simple Skew-Normal PRNG in JavaScript

The basic JavaScript Math.Random returns values with an approximately uniform distribution. While this is often sufficient, many situations require normal distributions. Some situations may be even better served by an approximately normal, but asymmetric, distribution. These are known as skew-normal distributions.

A Simple Introduction to Crossing Numbers of Graphs

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.

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.

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?

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 […]

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.

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 […]

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:

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 […]

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.

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