Right now…
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Advent of Code
I’m currently working through the Advent of Code 2022 challenge. Lots of people use the challenge to learn a new language or paradigm. Others to brush up on algorithms. And still others are competitive on getting there first. I just want to finish and maybe enjoy some commiseration with co-workers. So I’m using C, with maybe some light C++ (because the STL has some useful classes) in later challenges. Given my history, I will be happy to just finish without bailing after the Nth traveling salesman graph traversal problem. To start, I decided to over-engineer the driver application as a CLI for all the challenges/solutions that get added to the core executable. -
Random Code Projects
My unfinished projects list is dwarfed by my backlog of “Hey, I would like to…” list. I’m enjoying quite a few things, like retro computing via emulations of early computers & CPUs, the nostalgia of retro software running on these emulations, putting these things into simple hardware form, and so on. There’s also learning some new programming languages, implementing some basic algorithmic solvers for N-Queens, Pentominoes, and Sudoku.
Today I learned…
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Duff's Device
• A fellow was credited with inventing something that other people discovered on their own -
the Gray Code
• A special form of binary encoding where increments and decrements require only one bit to change
Recent blog posts
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"It depends on the team" is a Red Flag
Exchanges with recruiters and engineers and others about the culture at different tech companies leaves a mixed response that raises a red flag. Me: “I have heard that $COMPANY has an $ADJECTIVE culture.” Them: “Yeah, that’s sometimes true but it depends on the group.”
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Permission to Suck
Like most people, I am afraid to fail or look stupid. This fear feeds a procrastination spiral. I am breaking out of this spiral by giving myself permission to suck. So, FYI, it’s OK to look stupid. It’s OK to suck.