Compilers
Lesson of the week - when screen sharing on Zoom, disconnect additional monitor(s).
I've been working on porting Crafting Interpreters from C to Python, and this naturally involves making some adjustments. First is avoiding circular dependencies in the Python version. I imagine this is less of an issue in C as the linking/compilation stage simply moves all the source code into a single blob. Second is separating out pointers to arrays into arrays and arrays indices.
I'm happy with the progress so far, but now I'm at implementing functions and the interactions are getting a lot more complex. In particular is how variable scopes interact with function call frames; I'm constantly puzzled on how to debug (and if my adjustments overlooked more fundamental underpinnings of how things work). I know, last week I was all about "let's set up guardrails" to make reasoning about the code easier - it's all there now and I'm still stuck.
I'm contemplating starting over with my own custom implementation, but with function support right out of the door (or at least, with the minimal infrastructure needed for to the implementation). I anticipate this involves a lot more sketching designs on paper even before the first line of code - how fun!
The other fun thing with creating your own toy implementation is selecting your own set of reserved words. I've switched from 'var' to 'let' (to suppress prior trauma of learning JavaScript pre-ES6) and from 'this' to 'self'.
WebAssembly
New technology can be rough around the edges. Earlier in my time at RC I wanted to set up Python-Rust interop via WebAssembly. This involves compiling Rust functions to WebAssembly and loading the .wasm binaries in Python, in order to benefit from performance improvements.
I finally got this to work, example here. Calculating the 10,000th prime in Python with Rust achieves a 10x speedup vs pure Python. What's interesting is this closed issue, which might have been what tripped me up previously. The issue close date? August 24, 2020.
Content: What you'll wish you'd known
Paul Graham was invited to speak at a high school in 2005, but somehow the school authorities vetoed the plan. I wonder if they're kicking themselves now.
http://www.paulgraham.com/hs.html
The excerpt below is a highlight from a recent re-reading of the talk he prepared. On the back of this I'm going to indulge myself on something I've been curious about for a while - design.
If you're deciding between two projects, choose whichever seems most fun. If one blows up in your face, start another. Repeat till, like an internal combustion engine, the process becomes self-sustaining, and each project generates the next one. (This could take years.)
The excerpt that caught my eye on the first reading emphasizes the importance of experience, and draws parallels with Rilke's quote.
If it takes years to articulate great questions, what do you do now, at sixteen? Work toward finding one. Great questions don't appear suddenly. They gradually congeal in your head. And what makes them congeal is experience.
Content: Experiments at Airbnb
Data science at Airbnb had a mixed reputation a few years back, but something they did very well was marketing the practice through content and events. The well-curated blog attracted many to apply for a role. The post I enjoyed the most discussed best practices for A/B testing - on duration of experiments, understanding context and setting up guardrails.
https://medium.com/airbnb-engineering/experiments-at-airbnb-e2db3abf39e7
Speaking of experiments and causal inference, I'm adding causal forests to the list of things to review...
Content: Indie Game
I'm fascinated how distribution (or perhaps in a more direct way, monetization) plays a role in content creation. Jonathan Blow in his talk discusses parallels between TV shows and computer games when each medium moves from gatekeepers to direct-to-consumer distribution - highly recommended.
What's also super fascinating is seeing the travails of indie game developers. The attention to detail, the degree of craftsmanship and the pursuit of perfection - I can't help but think of Jiro.
Content: Empty Streets (Haji + Emanuel Remix)
This mix is legendary, and amusingly, apt for 2020.
Content: Think before you build
I remember reading this post, spending hours on Google looking for it again, and feeling very sad when I couldn't find it. When I was compiling the content I wanted to share on this blog, I looked through my notes and there it was. The lone URL, no annotations, no comments. It was like finding treasure. I was overjoyed.
Perhaps there's a dream job there somewhere. Content finder?
http://www.slate.com/id/2289527
The post is about how computers have done wonders for productivity, but in many cases speed compensates for the lack of rigorous thought. It's a reminder to pause and reflect before we write that first line of code, and as per a previous post, to cut through to what matters by thinking clearly from first principles.
What kept me looking for this post were the immortal words of Renzo Piano.
But architecture is about thinking. It's about slowness in some way. You need time. The bad thing about computers is that they make everything run very fast, so fast that you can have a baby in nine weeks instead of nine months. But you still need nine months, not nine weeks, to make a baby.