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Balau's technical blog on open hardware, free software and security
Browsing All posts tagged under »programming«
Paul Graham – What Doesn’t Seem Like Work?
Paul Graham suggests that, when we find a task that entertains us to the point that we are eager to do it, and when people around us doesn’t seem to approach that same task with the same enthusiasm, then we have found a clue. It’s a clue that points towards a direction that could very well […]
Eric S. Raymond: Time, Clock, and Calendar Programming In C
October 9, 2014
esr (of The Cathedral & the Bazaar fame) has just written a comprehensive guide on the many functions, structures and styles for dealing with time in C, mostly for UNIX, Linux and POSIX operating systems. It’s especially direct in marking obsolete functionalities, stuff that shouldn’t be used, pitfalls and recommendations. I’m sure he struggled with these APIs […]
Attending an on-line course on compilers
October 14, 2012
I am currently attending an on-line class on compilers at Coursera, that I already mentioned in a previous blog post. The course (prepared and lead by Professor Alex Aiken) is very interesting, and mixes formal theory with practical applications. At the end the students will be able to code a complete compiler, and they will […]
How programmers can easily choose strong passwords
April 22, 2012
Choosing a password is always a trade-off between security and usability. Programmers can shift this compromise thanks to some qualities of their work. The idea is to use lines of code as passwords.
The shoulders of Knuth
January 25, 2011
One of the greatest virtues that a programmer should have is humility: it allows to be non-judgmental and prone to learn. Sometimes, because of pride and self confidence, it’s difficult or unnatural to feel humble in front of a fellow student, or a coworker, or your boss, or sometimes even your teacher. But if you […]
Trace and profile function calls with GCC
October 6, 2010
Software debugging is a complex task. There is always the need to collect all available information, in order to detect and understand the problem fast and to think of a proper solution. Sometimes it’s more convenient to debug step-by-step, sometimes it’s better to make the program run completely, and then trace the execution flow “offline”. […]
Memento code comments
January 25, 2010
Code comments are equal to flossing: you need to floss regularly or else… But how should a developer approach writing comments? As a personal technique I associate code comments with memento. What does memento mean? Memento is the Latin imperative “Remember!” A memento is an object that serves the purpose to let us not forget […]
High-level vs Low-level programming
March 27, 2009
Scott James Remnant explains his view on C programming versus C# or Python programming. I’d like to comment on this topic too. I feel that in theory he’s wrong: low-level programming is inefficient respect to high-level programming. But in practice I think he’s right: a software coded in a low-level language is better respect to […]
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Freedom Embedded by Francesco Balducci is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 License.
Freedom Embedded 
January 17, 2015
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