Idiomatic code

What does writing idiomatic code mean? Let us say you are using Python to populate a list with numbers. One way to do this is nos = [] for i in range(5): nos.append(i) Another is nos = [i for i in range(5)] The second one is the idiomatic code. It leverages the Pythonic way of … Continue reading Idiomatic code →

Concurrency Models

We can roughly classify concurrency models into: 1. Thread based concurrency. 2. Event based concurrency. Imagine that you run a store with only one customer service representative. As soon as a customer walks in, the customer service representative greets the customer with a quick hello saying – “If you need any help, give me a … Continue reading Concurrency Models →

Ode To Queues

If you have a producer with an uneven rate of production and a consumer that cannot keep pace with the producer at its peak, use a queue. If you have a workload that need not be addressed synchronously, use a queue. If your customer-facing application is riddled with workloads that can be deferred, move these … Continue reading Ode To Queues →

Software security

Some disparate thoughts on security in no particular order. Many security bugs can be avoided by making a clear distinction between authentication and authorization. When one logs into Facebook, one uses a username and password. Facebook lets you log in only once it is sure that you are the owner of the account by verifying … Continue reading Software security →

Naming Things

There are only two hard things in Computer Science: cache invalidation and naming things. -- Phil Karlton Even though the above might have been in jest, naming variables while writing code is a head-scratching experience. Should I make it short? Should I make it descriptive? If descriptive, how descriptive? These thoughts keep running in one's … Continue reading Naming Things →

Switching programming languages

Many are apprehensive about switching programming languages. It is OK to have preferences—I am heavily biased towards statically typed languages with great tooling support—but being dogmatic is not something one should aim for. What could be the downsides of switching programming languages? I am disregarding the psychological aversion to change and sticking to hard facts. 1. One … Continue reading Switching programming languages →