rmprescott

69 karma · joined September 29, 2010

rmprescott··on Reconsidering the way I explain programming (2020)

>Now I think I can explain tail call optimization via an escalator analogy.

Circular, "Penrose Stairs" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penrose_stairs) might be a better extension to the student's staircase model.

rmprescott··on Ask HN: Which abandoned proprietary software would you resurrect?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_Improv

n-dimensional spreadsheet with a logical data model (including hierarchies) rather than rows and columns:

Net Worth := Assets - Liabilities

rmprescott··on Ask HN: Which sites/platforms do you wish had an API?

Mint

rmprescott··on Ask HN: Where is AI/ML actually adding value at your company?

perhaps you should change your Amazon password...

rmprescott··on Java garbage collection can be really slow

Two simple suggestions:

The author mentioned reading in files with x "number of lines". If they are then parsing the lines into some structured format, there are likely many opportunities to look for low cardinality aspects and to reduce object tenuring by pooling strings using either String.intern or a hashset.

They should also consider increasing the eden size.

rmprescott··on Ask HN: How do you motivate yourself at a boring corporate job?

The two are uncorrelated.

rmprescott··on Ask HN: How do you motivate yourself at a boring corporate job?

Then you haven't really absorbed the value of the prior posts.

rmprescott··on How long will there be computer science departments?

> How long will there be computer science departments?

Um...isn't that a form of the Halting Problem? ;D

rmprescott··on How often do plane stowaways fall from the sky?

>How often do plane stowaways fall from the sky?

just once

rmprescott··on Ask HN: Inspirational Books