Programming

Introduction

In computing, the aphorism “Less is More” comes up often. With Jujutsu (jj), it takes a very concrete form: a simpler mental model can reduce the daily friction of version control.

In this article¹, I will not try to “prove” that jj is superior to git. I will show, on a concrete case, why some common operations: interrupting work in progress, reorganizing changes, fixing a non-atomic commit or resolving a conflict, become more natural with jj.

Faced with an AI capable of compiling our intentions into working programs, I ask myself: does our craft reduce to assembling syntax, or does it hide a dimension that is by nature beyond computation?

I was 17 when I finally got my hands on “The Art of Computer Programming” by Donald Knuth. At the time, in 1989, reference books on programming were rare and the 4 volumes of TAOCP had the status of a “bible”; it remains for me a reference work that every computer scientist should read.

Originally published in July 2018 on my previous blog, and cross-posted on Medium.

Larry Wall once wrote “The three great virtue of the programmer are: laziness, impatience, and hubris”. I took great care to follow this path to become a programmer. Though I must admit I already had great disposition for laziness.

Now, as an accomplished programmer (cough hubris cough), I think it’s time to improve further. I’ve search for a loooooooong time. And after a week of thinking (cough impatience cough) I’ve decided to talk to you about the fourth virtue of the programmer.

Originally published in January 2018 on my previous blog. Eight years later, Go is still the language I reach for first.

First let me wish you, dear reader, the very best for 2018: May you have health, success, fun and love in abundance!

For some years now, I’ve started learning/using a new computer language every year. 2018 will be no exception: This year I’ll learn and use the Go language.

Originally published in May 2016 on my previous blog. It is one entry in a long habit of picking one new language per year: Python in 2009, JavaScript in 2016, Go in 2018, Rust in 2022.

Many of my friends express their surprise when I say I chose to learn JavaScript in 2016.

With so many cool languages to learn, why using a “toy language” of the past instead of, let’s say Haskell, Go, Nimrod, Rust (just to name some)?