December 2008
2 posts
What does 'this' evaluate to?
I tried to pin this down (without reference to the actual language spec, so apologies if I get any details incorrect) - What is the function object whose definition contains the code currently executing? - What kind of syntax was used at the point this particular function object was called? - Called explicitly as a property of an object, as in: someObject.propertyName(someArg), where...
Dec 10th
1 tag
Boterkoek
My mum got this recipe when I was small from a Dutch friend called (I think!) Irma. Thanks Irma. It’s like shortbread but softer, sweeter and more buttery, it’s something that’s good and quite quick to make and so I’ve been trying to perfect it. My basic recipe involves equal parts by weight of: Caster sugar Plain white flour Butter (Yes that’s a lot of butter)....
Dec 6th
November 2008
2 posts
5 tags
Matthew is all over dojo →
Really well-put-together, serious, full-stack client-side framework. Makes prototype.js look like a bit of a toy. Gives you the tools to write thick client apps in the style of Sproutcore, too—but lets you choose how far you want to go down that road. Great namespacing and module support. Sophisticated build tools. Great widget framework with lots of reusable skinnable widgets. Good...
Nov 28th
Time to reject traditional database techniques?... →
I think pundits crying the demise of relational DBs frequently miss the point—the relational abstraction will always be a useful one, the problem is that it’s harder to scale databases at that abstracted level. So tools are arising which scale the DB at a lower level of abstraction, leaving you to re-implement relational techniques poorly ontop of them. Instead I would like it if...
Nov 14th
October 2008
4 posts
New favourite cheese →
Oct 28th
Oct 25th
6 tags
“There are only two hard things in Computer Science: cache invalidation and...”
– Attributed to Phil Karlton. Naming I know is hard, but does anyone have an example of why cache invalidation is a deep problem? I am considering a dependency graph (well, DAG) for cached pieces of data, with time-to-live values on the edges.
Oct 20th
So many companies looking for incremental...
I’ve given in to peer pressure and will give this one a try.
Oct 19th