When faced with unfamiliar program code Roger Hui, the co-creator of the J Programming Language would sometimes wipe out all the code comments. He told me this forced him to concentrate on the actual code and not the opinions of previous developers. Roger was an exceptional programmer; he knew that program comments are often dated, … Continue reading “Managing” a SQLite Database with J (Part 2)
Tag: J
“Managing” a SQLite Database with J (Part 1)
Previously, I promised to write three posts about dispatching irritants with J. This, my third post, is proving more irritating than the others, so I will split it over two posts. SQLite, by many estimates, is the most widely deployed SQL database system on Earth. It's everywhere. It's in your phone, your laptop, your cameras, … Continue reading “Managing” a SQLite Database with J (Part 1)
Stupid J Jupyter Tricks
Continuing with my software irritant dispatching theme: today’s irritant - including syntax colored code in blogs, LaTeX, Word, and other documents. This one is a persistent pain in the ass; especially for users of idiosyncratic programming languages. We all have our favorite hacks and workarounds; today I am sharing one of mine: using jupyter to … Continue reading Stupid J Jupyter Tricks
Branding XMP Sidecar Files with J
During my long and not-so-storied IT career I covertly dispatched “irritants” with the J programming language. An irritant is an annoying software problem that does not merit a full-blown project-style approach. The last thing you want when dealing with irritants is to drag in IT bureaucrats. You know of whom I speak: the niggling little … Continue reading Branding XMP Sidecar Files with J
NumPy another Iverson Ghost
Click here for a PDF version of this post. During my recent SmugMug API and Python adventures I was haunted by an Iverson ghost: NumPy An Iverson ghost is an embedding of APL like array programming features in nonAPL languages and tools. You would be surprised at how often Iverson ghosts appear. Whenever programmers are challenged … Continue reading NumPy another Iverson Ghost
SWAG a J/EXCEL/GIT Personal Cash Flow Forecasting Mob
While browsing in a favorite bookstore with my son, I spotted a display of horoscope themed Christmas tree ornaments. The ornaments were glass balls embossed with golden birth signs like Aquarius, Gemini, Cancer, et cetera, and a descriptive phrase that “summed up” the character of people born under a sign. Below my birth sign golden … Continue reading SWAG a J/EXCEL/GIT Personal Cash Flow Forecasting Mob
JOD Update: Version 0.9.97*
In the last year much has changed in the J world. There are new official J 8.0x builds for all supported platforms.The QT based IDE JDE has matured and is in widespread use.The column oriented J database JD is drawing new users to J and enticing J veterans to reconsider how we use databases.There is … Continue reading JOD Update: Version 0.9.97*
JD Bitcoin Blockchain Spelunking
On July 25, 2014 I gave this short presentation about poking around the Bitcoin blockchain with J at the 2014 J Conference in Toronto Canada. Click to browse presentation PDF
Parsing the Bitcoin Genesis Block with J
The genesis block is the first block on the Bitcoin blockchain. Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious entity that created Bitcoin, mined the genesis block on January 3, 2009. It's been five years since the genesis block's birth and Satoshi is still unknown, Bitcoin is bigger than ever, and the blockchain is longer than 300,000 blocks and growing. One … Continue reading Parsing the Bitcoin Genesis Block with J
JOD Update: J 8.02 QT/JHS/64 bit Systems
I have pushed out a JOD update that makes it possible to run the addon on J 8.02 systems. In the last eight months a QT based J IDE has been developed that runs on Linux, Windows and Mac platforms. To maintain JOD’s compatibility across all versions of J from 6.02 on I had to … Continue reading JOD Update: J 8.02 QT/JHS/64 bit Systems