Xah Programing Blog Archive 2014-09

Problems of Symbol Congestion in Computer Languages; ASCII Jam vs Unicode (repost)

Why I Hate Exceptions

On the Realism of Space Battle of Star War vs Star Trek

the most realistic space battle is depicted in Star Wars, where massive ships loom large by inertia, plasma bolts fly like raining swords, and the giant explosion only possible in outer space. On the other hand, Star Trek is not realistic in just about every way. The oddly shaped ships are not space-dynamic, and teleportation has unsolved philosophical issues, the aliens are humans with horns, and silly evasive maneuver, wrap-drive, time travel, holodeck, lol, figment of desire of scifi nerds.

you know you are old when you see heated debates that you participated decades ago. On Unix File System's Case Sensitivity

if you stutter in grammar, have a style tumor you can't excise, or in the plight of sufferage of prolixness, follow wordy english for treatment.

in programing languages, statements should be ban'd. Only expression should be allowed. Programing Language Syntax Soup

fingerprint authentication problem
fingerprint authentication problem. With fingerprint, somebody can unlock it while you sleep, or the cops and FBI.

list comprehension, python, semantics and syntax, and the hacker idiocies

Guido wants to remove {lambda, map, reduce} in python. He wants us to use list comprehension exclusively. see Lambda in Python 3000 .

if you don't know what list comprehension is, see Python: Generate List (List Comprehension)

list comprehension is no good. see Why List Comprehension is Bad

still, the python hacker idts defend it by “its faster”. In which, python compiler idcy comes forward to defend python language idcy, like a snake eating its tail.

however, there's one important semantic advantage of list comprehension. That is, using expressions to build complicated list. The advantage is seen especially with multiple variables (For example, nested array n levels deep, each level has different number of nodes.). This would be nested map, which is cumbersome. This is also why, Mathematica has the Table[] construct http://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Table.html, which is a functional form of list comprehension. (in Common Lisp, the analogous is its loop. However, only Mathematica's syntax is functional. Python and Common Lisp loop syntax are imperative warts on drugs.)

by the way, idts will start to talk about list comprehension as analogous to math's set comprehension and stuff. U no unstand.

math's set comprehension notation is a idiocy, first of all. see:

or Google search for “calculational proof” by Dijkstra or others, or “calculational math”.

secondly, programing language's list comprehension has nothing to do with math's set notation, unless you are talking about purely declarative functional languages or proof system language that actually have some form of “comprehension”, such as coq or HOL, see:

by the way also, “list comprehension” is one of those fuzzy thing. Any lang that has a weird loop syntax can claim to have “list comprehension”. So, on pages such as Wikipedia, you have one hundred languages all trying to demo its list comprehension. Like, “regardless how idtc i am, also ran is my very advanced feature the list comprehension, witness.”.

linux tip: change display resolution, orientation, by command line

you can use the command xrandr to control display resolution, orientation, etc. See man xrandr. (warning: i haven't tried. Use at your own risk.)

thanks to Thomas Funk. see: https://plus.google.com/+XahLee/posts/VQAnaduNVSm

Linux: wget (Download Web Page) (updated)

Linus's new keyboard: CM Storm

so, Linus got a new keyboard, and it's Cooler Master Storm.

Cooler Master Storm QuickFire Rapid Keyboard SGK-4000-GKCL1-US
Cooler Master Storm QuickFire Rapid Keyboard Buy at amazon

See https://plus.google.com/+XahLee/posts/Tted66P1qy2

you can still buy this classic. Unicomp Keyboard (updated)

this is best for Mac users. Matias Mini Tactile Pro Keyboard (updated)

Alt Graph Key, Compose Key, Dead Key (updated)

Keyboard revolution is here. Introducing, the Axios Keyboard ⌨

programing pains and idiocy: trim whitespace

in emacs, there's a command that trim whitespace. But, wouldn't it be great if when a file is saved, the command auto runs? But then, when working in a team, if you do that, and commit, people will frown upon, as consequences of diff and log all become spurious. Thus, born is various whitespace clean packages, that trim only if the file before edit is whitespace clean, or trim only on the lines you edited.

it's, like, becoming, idioticer and idioticer.

there are several problems here. The core is the most idiotic concept, that code are based on lines of 70 chars or so, which originated from punch cards, and insisted by unix C idiots, and glorified by hacker idiots about style guides and style guide checkers banana.

spurious software complexity that spun out of nowhere. Like, these days, you spend most of the time on the side things of coding. Time to learn the tools, work around the tools, follow new rules due to tools.

Programing Language Syntax Soup

a new index page Keyboard Layout, Key Shortcuts Tutorial ⌨

does linux tiling window really suck? a challenge

a coder i respect highly, [2014-09-13 Yuri Khan ] ( https://github.com/yurivkhan ), commented on my article about tiling windows.

i know at least that Yuri is expert at python and JavaScript, and also a master of keyboard config, like myself. He has commented on my blogs for over a year, and that's how i know. Often, i learn something from him, either something technical in a language, or history, Russian programing keyboard or typing issues, etc.

sometimes we disagree. He loves python, i hate python.

anyway, he commented on my tiling windows rant on how he finds it useful. (as a lot hackers do. I despise tiling windows, as i despise most hacker's love, such as the The Idiocy of Happy Hacking Keyboard)

i updated my tiling windows article, to include a alternative workflow, and i challenge anyone to use it for a week, and see if they still find tiling window or workspace useful.

here: Why Tiling Window Manager Sucks (xmonad, ratpoison, dwm, etc)

if you don't know how to set the keys, just ask me by leaving a comment there.

you must do this. How to Set Key to Switch to Browser (updated)

another new index page. Keyboard Layout Design 🔠

new index page. Keyboard Design 🔧. Separated out from Keyboard: Layouts, Hotkeys, Macros, RSI ⌨

new index page: Linux Rants and Ravings, separated out from Xah Linux Tutorial .

What is Gamma in Digital Images

What is High Dynamic Range Image (HDRI) (updated)

ROCCAT Ryos MK Advanced Mechanical Gaming Keyboard

discovered:

ROCCAT Ryos MK Keyboard
ROCCAT Ryos MK Advanced Mechanical Gaming Keyboard. Buy at amazon

ROCCAT is known as a linux friendly brand. The keyboard driver is available for Linux. No need for Microsoft Windows to set the programable keys.

“the the” Typos in Programing Docs

Linux: Extract tar zip gzip lzip bzip2 xz rar (minor update)

Tiny Space Bar on Japanese Keyboards (minor update)

i needed this recently. GPG Tutorial

Command to Delete EXIF Data in Image Files

Linux: Swap CapsLock Escape Keys

Linux: How to Find X11 Keycode/Keysym (on tis own page)

Linux: Find Keyboard Key Scancode (on its own page)

Ergonomic Keyboard Layouts (minor update)

the most powerful shell command. Master it. Linux: Traverse Directory: find, xargs (minor update)

Linux: How to Install Font, List Fonts (repost)

Linux: Default Fonts (repost)

Linux Pain: Google Chrome Korean Font Scrunched Up

Linux: Change Sound Level by Command (updated)

UtechSmart Venus Mouse

UtechSmart venus mouse
UtechSmart venus mouse. Buy at amazon

new addition. See: MMO Mouses

the mouse that killed all other mouses

one cheapo mouse, 5 buttons, 1.5 year battery life, $9.97! TeckNet M002 2.4G Nano Cordless Optical Mouse Buy at amazon

Most Popular Page on xahlee.info

the most popular page on my site is JavaScript: Get Elements by ID, Tag, Name, Class, CSS Selector
13.3% visitors are viewing that page. 13k page views in past 30 days.

the second most popular is The Idiocy of Happy Hacking Keyboard 1.2% of page visits. 1.2k page views in past 30 days.

3rd most popular is Unicode: Arrows → ➵ ➛ ➲ ➤ 1.2% of page visits.

4th most popular is macOS: Create Custom Keyboard Layout 1% of page visits.

comment at https://plus.google.com/+XahLee/posts/acGmeFmEBcU

Chromebook is actually just a Google Chrome browser, that's ALL. Chromebook