Über Software » Distractions http://www.uebersoftware.com Opinions and thoughts on Software and Technology. Thu, 29 Apr 2010 06:04:30 +0000 en hourly 1 Puzzles: Informative alternatives for Java developers http://www.uebersoftware.com/2010/04/puzzles-informative-alternatives-for-java-developers/ http://www.uebersoftware.com/2010/04/puzzles-informative-alternatives-for-java-developers/#comments Thu, 29 Apr 2010 06:04:30 +0000 Ben http://www.uebersoftware.com/?p=235 Reading in my currrent favorate time-beater book when commuting I stumbled across the following:

\u0070\u0075\u0062\u006c\u0069\u0063\u0020\u0020\u0020\u0020
\u0063\u006c\u0061\u0073\u0073\u0020\u0055\u0067\u006c\u0079
\u007b\u0070\u0075\u0062\u006c\u0069\u0063\u0020\u0020\u0020
\u0020\u0020\u0020\u0020\u0073\u0074\u0061\u0074\u0069\u0063
\u0076\u006f\u0069\u0064\u0020\u006d\u0061\u0069\u006e\u0028
\u0053\u0074\u0072\u0069\u006e\u0067\u005b\u005d\u0020\u0020
\u0020\u0020\u0020\u0020\u0061\u0072\u0067\u0073\u0029\u007b
\u0053\u0079\u0073\u0074\u0065\u006d\u002e\u006f\u0075\u0074
\u002e\u0070\u0072\u0069\u006e\u0074\u006c\u006e\u0028\u0020
\u0022\u0048\u0065\u006c\u006c\u006f\u0020\u0077\u0022\u002b
\u0022\u006f\u0072\u006c\u0064\u0022\u0029\u003b\u007d\u007d

Guess what is this?*

Java Puzzles is one of these great book you can read when travelling short distances. It keeps you fit in the language basics and is fun to read. I also like the fact that being an  IT book for once and doesn’t require a computer to work it through. This is from a newer edition of Java Puzzlers Joshua Bloch and Neal Gafters book on traps, pitfalls and corner cases in the Java programming language.

* A Java Hello world in Unicode, due to Java’s native Unicode support this is completely legal.

]]> http://www.uebersoftware.com/2010/04/puzzles-informative-alternatives-for-java-developers/feed/ 0 A Programmer’s New Year’s Resolution for 2010: Learning Scala http://www.uebersoftware.com/2010/01/a-programmers-new-years-resolution-for-2010-learning-scala/ http://www.uebersoftware.com/2010/01/a-programmers-new-years-resolution-for-2010-learning-scala/#comments Sat, 09 Jan 2010 00:23:15 +0000 Ben http://www.uebersoftware.com/?p=198 In a world of constant change and ever increasing speed of innovation as a programmer, you might sit back and think about how to prepare for those changes and increase your career options. You might also look forward to a mental distraction from the daily Java/Ruby/PHP routine, or your inner geek is just looking for the next big thing.

So without further ado and fanboy-ing here’s why I want to do it.

Scala
I first heard of Scala about an year ago in an article in the German Java Magazin. What caught my attention was that it was designed by a) a Swiss researcher (awakening to my national pride ;) ) and b) that Martin Odersky wrote the reference compiler for Java 1.5, and c) that the Twitter (messaging) backend at that time had just moved to Scala.

Scala is a general purpose programming language, statically typed and integrates features of object-oriented and functional languages.

Some properties Scala offers:

  • Runs on JVM: Scala is byte code compatible with Java and can therefore be used in combination with existing Java Libraries.
  • Combines functional with oo: Scala can take advantage of best of both worlds
  • Eases concurrency, scalablility: A certain amount of functional programming is inevitable, if multicore computers should be used efficiently.
  • Reduces code size by 2-4 compared to Java: Less code tends to require less work writing and maintaining it and also tends to have fewer defaults.
  • Particular use cases include Complex XML Processing, Concurrent programming, DSL

Within the TIOBE index Scala is at #33. There’s a lot of controversy if scala will be the next big thing. Some very well rounded arguments pro and contra. But as an old saying goes in German “Probieren geht über studieren” I choose to set off trying it myself for a private project or two. Stay tuned for the learning scala series.

]]> http://www.uebersoftware.com/2010/01/a-programmers-new-years-resolution-for-2010-learning-scala/feed/ 0 Firefox 3.5 hanging? slow? buggy? http://www.uebersoftware.com/2009/09/firefox-3-5-hangs-slow-bugg/ http://www.uebersoftware.com/2009/09/firefox-3-5-hangs-slow-bugg/#comments Mon, 07 Sep 2009 15:22:20 +0000 Ben http://www.uebersoftware.com/?p=96 Like many other users I recently had slow-down problems using the new firefox 3.5.x. Seems like the Skype Plugin was causing the issues. Disabling it worked for me. There is an interesting thread on the issue. Skype apparently is having problems making reasonable quality plugins for quite some time. Mozilla was aware of it but due to political reasons did not block the knowing troublesome plugin in the new version.

This feels really strange for such a company to piss off users just to please some exec’s at skype / ebay.

]]> http://www.uebersoftware.com/2009/09/firefox-3-5-hangs-slow-bugg/feed/ 0 Copyright reloaded http://www.uebersoftware.com/2009/08/copyright-reloaded/ http://www.uebersoftware.com/2009/08/copyright-reloaded/#comments Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:34:58 +0000 Ben http://www.uebersoftware.com/?p=49 I found this article recently. Quite funny the copyright symbol designer sues e.g. RIAA for using his artwork whereas RIAA itself sees itself something like the holy grail of copyright.

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