Programming Zen

Table of Contents

Everything published here, newest first: 384 posts going back to 2005. The feed is at /feed/ if you would rather not scroll.

20242 posts
30 AprI Ask Basic Questions During Technical Interviews
17 MarI’m Supposed to Know
20233 posts
5 OctInternship at IBM: A Life-Changing Experience Awaits You
9 SepPrompt Engineering for Everyone: My New Course
25 JanNew IBM Internship Opportunities for Canadian Students
20211 post
12 MarGet an Internship With My Team at IBM
202010 posts
16 JunWhat to Study to Become a Web Developer
25 MayFront-End vs Back-End Developer
14 MayHow to Become a Web Developer and Get a Job With No Experience (Guide)
6 MayRemoving Duplicates From a List in Elixir
3 MaySpecify a Port when Booting a Phoenix Application
29 AprDeveloping with Elixir/OTP Course Review
23 ApriPad Pro 11″ vs 12.9″: Which One Should You Buy?
31 MarSorting Results by Specific Values in SQL with CASE
12 Mar4 Tech Innovations That Could Change Smartphones
14 FebIBM Summer 2020 Internship Positions
201912 posts
28 NovGet Technical Blogging for 40% off
20 NovNew IBM Internship Positions in My Team
14 OctString Length in Elixir
10 OctElixir Hello World
20 SepChoosing an Executive Laptop Backpack
6 SepInstalling rbenv on Zsh (on MacOS)
28 AugProgramming on an iPad
18 AugJoin My Team at IBM
3 AugExploring Mathematics with Matplotlib and Python
25 Jul19 Gadgets I Use and Love
17 JulKindle vs Kobo: Choosing the Right E-reader Ecosystem
14 JulNew Book and YouTube Channel
20182 posts
26 JunGoogle Pixelbook Review: The Little Laptop That Could
19 JunBuilding Better Software With Info-Ops: An Interview With Daniel B. Markham
20171 post
9 Nov25 Pitfalls When Learning to Program
201622 posts
17 OctProgramming Zen Will Be on a Hiatus Due to Tragic Circumstances
18 AugSo You Want Your Programming Language to Be Popular
10 AugBalancing Your Programming Skills Portfolio
3 AugDual Booting GalliumOS and Chrome OS on a Toshiba Chromebook 2
27 JulAnd That’s How I Ended up Developing with a Chromebook
19 JulDeveloper Laptops in 2016
12 Jul15 Sites for Programming Exercises
5 JulGiveaway: 4 Rails and React.js Ebooks by Arkency
3 JulIn Praise of Function Pre and Postconditions
28 JunUS Giveaway: Learn to Program with Small Basic
21 JunNotice What You Didn’t Do
14 JunA Language for the Next 10 Years
7 Jun10 Lesser-Known Programming Languages Worth Exploring
31 MayTip #4 for Young Programmers: Get Familiar with the Command Line
24 MaySurvey Results
17 MayPlease Take My Programming Survey
10 MayTip #3 for Young Developers: Master an Editor
3 MayTip #2 for Young Programmers: Learn Revision Control
26 AprTip #1 for Young Programmers: Specialize in Something
19 AprBig Data University: Educating One Million Data Scientists
12 AprData Scientist Workbench: IBM’s All-in-One Tool for Data Scientists
10 FebA Review of the Amazon Books Store
20152 posts
9 JulMy Tour of Tech in Silicon Valley
3 JulOn Assignment in San Francisco for IBM LEADing to Africa
201416 posts
17 DecLogitech Type+ for iPad Air 2 Review
13 DecBacking up large amounts of photos
9 DecRails Is Old Hat, and That’s Okay
4 Dec10 Programming Challenges Sites
2 DecLearn New Programming Languages with Project Euler
27 NovOn Programming Languages as Languages
25 Nov3 Upcoming Languages That Are Worth Exploring
20 Nov40 productivity apps I use on a regular basis
18 Nov10 Tips for Interacting with the Geek in Your Family
13 NovChoosing a Tablet (aka iPad Air 2 vs Nexus 9 vs Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5)
11 NovA Few Thoughts on iOS vs Android Market Share
19 AugMeteor is going to be big
14 JulLearn to Secure Apps in Vancouver, and Calgary SMAC Meetup
2 JunIBM Is Offering Free Bluemix Training Days
21 MayJoin My Vancouver SMAC Meetup for People in Tech
10 JanPebble Smartwatch Review: A Useful Dumbwatch
20134 posts
19 NovTake BLU Acceleration for Cloud for a spin
14 JunGoogle+, the Best Social Network I Never Use
23 MarPeople Driven Development
8 JanAn In-depth Review of Fitbit One, Fitbit Aria, and Fitbit Premium
201212 posts
28 NovThe Good Enough
14 NovA Review of the TV Show Start-Ups: Silicon Valley
15 OctWhy I Won’t Be Publishing New ‘Great Ruby Shootouts’
27 SepJoin the Upcoming IBM Big Data Developer Day in Boston
7 JunTwo Big Data Events in Silicon Valley Next Week
5 JunNew jobs available at IBM in Toronto
9 MayNew Release of the Ruby Driver and Rails Adapter for DB2
3 MayRubyMotion brings serious Ruby development to the iOS world
2 MayDB2 Express-C 10 is now out
24 AprDiscount coupon for the Rails Tutorial (2nd Edition)
16 JanOn the Usability of Codecademy
12 JanThe Strange Case of John Dillinger and the Fraudulent Apple ID
201136 posts
16 DecA Big List of Interesting Programming Books Released in 2011
21 NovDownload DB2 Express-C 9.7.5
10 NovThe Real Reason Italy Sucks at the Startup Game
12 OctRequiem for a Dreamer
5 OctThe Hadoop Programming Challenge Has Been Extended
21 SepMy Technical Blogging Book Is Now Available in Beta
20 SepMobile Development Marketshare Among Hacker News’ Participants
9 SepLearn Hadoop and Get a Chance to Go to Vegas
23 AugAn Update On My Technical Blogging Book
10 AugMy First Impressions of Android
19 JulSpeeding up queries by a factor of 100 or more with DB2 Text Search
9 JulThe need for good vocational schools for programmers
23 JunProgramming in Objective-C, 3rd Edition is out
13 JunjQuery Air: An outstanding introduction to jQuery
8 JunIBM is Looking for a University Student with PHP skills in Toronto
2 Jun10 Ruby One Liners to Impress Your Friends
31 MayInterview with the Compilr.com team
16 MayThe Great Web-Reality Divide
12 MayInstalling Python, Django, and DB2 on Ubuntu 11.04
11 MayInstalling Ruby on Rails and DB2 on Ubuntu 11.04
9 MayDownload DB2 Express-C 9.7.4
1 MayGoogle I/O developer event in Waterloo, Canada
26 AprResults of the Technical Blogging survey
20 AprReview of Rails Best Practices
11 AprI’m thinking of writing an ebook and would love your feedback
4 AprRunning Radiant CMS on DB2 in the Cloud
28 MarFAQ: What programming language should I learn first?
21 MarProgramming is a Super Power
14 MarGetting Stuff Done With the Pomodoro Technique
9 MarInterview with Michael Hartl, author of the Rails 3 Tutorial
7 MarEloquent Ruby Review
1 MarJenga Driven Development
24 FebTry the next version of DB2 today
26 JanAn In-Depth Comparison of the Kindle DX Vs. iPad as Reading Devices
14 JanThe Art of Computer Programming, Volumes 1-4A Boxed Set
13 JanDB2 University goes live
201039 posts
28 DecGive your programmers professional tools
20 DecThe recommended Ruby and Rails book pages have been updated
19 DecIn-Depth Book Review: Authoring eBooks
5 OctWhy would you use a commercial database anyway?
24 SepStreamSend is looking for a senior (Rails) web developer
20 SepThings I’ve learned from hiring interns for IBM
17 AugGet weekly emails about new Programming books
19 JulThe Great Ruby Shootout (July 2010)
16 JulIn-Depth Book Review: Practical Clojure
13 JulHow to setup Clojure from scratch
9 JulThoughts on Clojure
4 JulThe pursuit of excellence in programming
28 JunThe Great Ruby Shootout (Windows Edition)
21 JunTen recent programming books that will make you a better developer
20 JunA new domain name for Zen and the Art of Programming
17 JunWould you use a Mac mini as your development machine?
17 JunFollow up to my Gmail third-party access post
15 JunWho is accessing your Gmail account?
11 JunPadrino: a Ruby framework built upon Sinatra
11 JunAdobe AIR as the cross-platform solution of choice
2 JunThe world according to Android
2 JunEnabling LIMIT and OFFSET in DB2 9.7.2
1 JunIBM releases DB2 Express-C 9.7.2
25 MayUpgrading to Rails 3
20 MayWeb or iPhone OS applications to make money?
16 MayBenchmarking MacRuby 0.6
14 MayThe most important programming language today
12 MayIBM_DB 2.5.0 with support for Rails 3 is out
28 AprOn the iPhone, iPad and Android Market Share
22 AprRails, DB2 and the Enterprise
21 AprThinkCode.TV’s English Catalog Goes Live
12 AprA tale of two search engines
2 AprMy kingdom for an iPad
30 MarDB2 support for Django 1.2 is here
29 MarFree Python screencast about solving mazes
24 MarSimple suggestions for implementing passwords correctly
22 MarSwitching from Feedburner Email to AWeber for my newsletter
5 MarHeads up: IBM is looking for top notch student hackers
21 JanDB2 support for Ruby/Rails turns 2.0
200958 posts
3 DecGrab DB2 Express-C 9.7.1 now and join the DB2Night Show
20 NovSetup Ruby Enterprise Edition, nginx and Passenger (aka mod_rails) on Ubuntu
21 OctWhat is DB2 pureScale?
19 OctAdd code highlighting to your Google Waves
8 OctGetting MacRuby’s compiler to work
24 SepThe CRTC tries to eliminate ISP competition in Canada
13 SepBenchmarking Tornado vs. Twisted Web vs. Tornado on Twisted
10 SepInstalling and configuring DB2 Express-C 9.7 on Ubuntu 9.04 Server
9 SepImprove the speed and security of your SQL queries
8 SepEnabling support for DB2 and Python/Django/SQLAlchemy on Mac OS X Snow Leopard
6 SepCell Phone Cost Calculator Killed In Canada. Enough Is Enough!
3 SepInstalling the Ruby driver for DB2 on Mac OS X Snow Leopard
31 AugStartup for sale on eBay (and it’s a great deal)
28 AugDB2 on Mac OS X Snow Leopard
24 AugRecommended Ruby and Rails books (August 2009)
15 AugDo programmers still buy printed books?
14 AugMy latest order of programming books
10 AugHow much faster is Ruby on Linux?
7 AugOn Scala’s future
6 AugThe DB2 adapter now supports Django 1.1
4 AugA faster Ruby on Windows is possible (benchmarks for 4 implementations inside)
3 AugComparing the performance of IronRuby, Ruby 1.8 and Ruby 1.9 on Windows
28 JulOn JRuby’s importance for the future of Ruby
27 JulWhy technical marketing is important for programmers
22 JulServing Django Static Files through Apache
21 JulIn defense of ad-based business models
29 JunReasons to switch to DB2 9.7
26 JunApple “Genius”
19 JunDB2 Express-C 9.7 and the Django adapter released
16 JunSelling my old MacBook Pro
10 JunDiscussing code reading and testing with Dave Thomas, Cory Foy and Tim Bray
5 JunDo Androids Count Electric Sheep with DB2 or MySQL?
27 MayOf labels and limits
25 MayAnnouncing ThinkCode.TV’s new English newsletter
22 MayTextMate bundle for DB2
18 MayMemoization in Ruby and Python
16 MayStartup Interviews: Zooppa.com
14 MayRuby 1.9 screencasts plus an announcement
27 AprScreencast on how to install DB2 Express-C on Mac OS X
22 AprThe Best DB2 Ever
14 AprCanadians, fight Internet Usage Based Billing (UBB)
13 AprStartup Interviews: Balsamiq Studio LLC
5 AprBetter Software 2009 and Pycon Italia Tre
29 MarWhy MacRuby Matters (Present & Future)
23 MarRuby’s Biggest Challenge for 2009
18 MarIBM Cloud Computing Webinar
17 MarDo you read the Rubyist and Rails Magazine?
17 MarIBM’s Python driver is out of beta
16 MarNew look and feel. Do you like it?
11 MarIntroducing Redis: a fast key-value database
26 FebScaling Rails Screencasts
23 FebDo you really need Venture Capital funding?
18 FebDB2 support for Django is coming
16 FebUnlocking intermediate resolutions on Sony Vaio FWs
16 FebSony Vaio FW Series: A Developer’s Review
28 JanLet’s all grow up
20 JanInstall DB2 on Mac OS X and give us feedback
1 JanMonte Carlo simulation of the Monty Hall Problem in Ruby and Python
200880 posts
30 DecDevelopers are blinded by the light
28 DecRandom thoughts on software piracy and open source business models
23 DecDB2 on Mac officially released
19 DecDownload DB2 on Mac
13 DecLearn Merb
12 DecDB2 on Mac to ship before Christmas
10 DecReflections on the Ruby shootout
9 DecThe Great Ruby Shootout (December 2008)
1 DecIBM’s XML Challenge (lots of prizes inside)
28 NovMy visit to the Apple Store
27 NovResolving the gray window when running db2setup
14 NovMerb, Rails Myths, Language Popularity and other Zenbits
10 NovAnd the winner is…
8 NovThe Rise of the Functional Paradigm
6 NovTake this survey and win a free ticket for the Professional Ruby Conference
5 NovThank you, America!
4 NovBenchmarking DB2 pureXML against 1 TB of XML data
28 OctPygments TextMate Bundle
27 OctIntegrating TextMate and Pygments
26 OctWhat Arc should learn from Ruby
25 OctReview of the first two Envycasts
22 OctRuby on Rails at IOD 2008
6 OctFree version of Ruby in Steel
25 SepDon’t alienate developers
22 SepHow companies should hire developers
20 SepAdvertise on Zen and the Art of Programming
14 SepDjango turns 1.0
9 SepA status update
5 AugRuby on Rails for Microsoft Developers available for pre-order on Amazon.com
26 JulThis Week in Ruby (July 26, 2008)
25 JulGoodbye Randy
20 JulBe life savvy: my new non-programming blog
18 JulRogers has reached a new low
14 JulA close look at three Rails 2.1 bugs
11 JulThis Week in Ruby (July 11, 2008)
7 JulRuby Shootout Status Update
27 JunRuby and Rails books, two years later (photo)
26 JunIBM’s crazy DB2 videos. What do you think?
26 JunThis Week in Ruby (June 26, 2008)
23 JunHeads up regarding the shootout
16 JunThis Week in Ruby (June 16, 2008)
12 JunReview of the screencast series The Ruby Object Model and Metaprogramming (episodes 1-3)
11 JunThe future of This Week in Ruby
5 JunMagLev handles trees like a monkey
1 JunLet’s create a Ruby Benchmark Suite
31 MayMagLev rocks and the planning of the next Ruby shootout
29 MayWordPress 2.5.1 breaks your Atom feed
29 MayThis Week in Ruby (May 29, 2008)
29 MayRandom Thoughts on Social Sites
28 MayRuby on Rails for Microsoft Developers
20 MayThis Week in Ruby (May 20, 2008)
12 MayThis Week in Ruby (May 12, 2008)
5 MayThis Week in Ruby (May 5, 2008)
29 AprFinally on Twitter
28 AprThis Week in Ruby (April 28, 2008)
24 AprAgile Web Development with Rails, Third Edition
21 AprThis Week in Ruby (April 21, 2008)
20 AprIs the Enterprise world Rails ready?
19 AprOn the value of conciseness
13 AprThis Week in Ruby (April 14, 2008)
8 AprOn The Last Lecture
7 AprThis Week in Ruby (April 7, 2008)
2 Apr7 soon to be released Ruby and Rails books
1 AprAnnouncing Ruby on Crack
31 MarThis Week in Ruby (March 31, 2008)
25 Mar‘inject’, ‘each’ and ‘times’ methods much slower in Ruby 1.9 on Mac OS X
20 MarDjango’s tipping point
18 MarUsing Python to detect the most frequent words in a file
16 MarLosing my blog title (oh no, I’ve said too much…)
4 MarRails is the best thing that ever happened to Python
29 FebOn Rails and DB2
13 FebIBM releases DB2 adapter for SQLAlchemy
8 FebEssential guide to the Ruby driver for DB2
4 FebRuby.NET is dead
30 JanRailsConf, Arc, Apple and other Zenbits
15 JanWhy Engine Yard, Rubinius and Merb matter
15 JanGreat Ruby and Rails books
8 JanRamaze: a Ruby framework that will amaze
3 JanZed’s Show
2 JanWelcome to IBM, Damien Katz
200749 posts
26 DecInstalling Django with PostgreSQL on Ubuntu
22 DecHow to install Django with MySQL on Mac OS X
21 DecProgrammers Ad Community: 50 invites for Adroll’s private beta
7 DecRuby on Rails 2.0 has been released and other Zenbits
3 DecThe Great Ruby Shootout
30 NovMore on Fibonacci. Oops, Sorry Lisp… Haskell runs it 5 times faster
28 NovHoly Shmoly, Ruby 1.9 smokes Python away!
27 NovTextMate is the king of Rails editors
27 NovRuby, Python, Haskell and Objective-C Feed Survey
23 NovGive Ruby.NET 0.9 some love
14 NovGuide to setting up the IBM Ruby and Python drivers for DB2 on Linux (32 or 64 bit)
11 NovInstalling DB2 9.5 on Ubuntu 7.10
31 OctDB2 Express-C 9.5 is available for download
29 OctIBM’s Python and DB2 drivers released
11 OctDon’t you feel like this sometimes too?
26 SepAre you interested in a DB2 driver for Lua?
26 SepA great combo of lenses for Canon Digital SLRs that won’t break the bank
19 SepDB2 on Mac
4 SepPython, Django and DB2 Status Update
1 SepGuess who’s back? Finally!
21 AugA preliminary review of three Cocoa and Objective-C related books
10 AugCocoa is my Cup of Tea
5 AugDesktop Applications are not dead!
30 JulIn praise of IronRuby’s Source Code
28 JulThe most submitted sites on Reddit.com
26 JulIs IronRuby mathematically challenged?
24 JulThe end of my Best Buy saga
24 JulRedirecting Atom feeds from Typo and WordPress to FeedBurner
22 JulArrivederci Typo
10 JulThe Ugly Truth about Best Buy Refunds
5 Jul23 Programming Languages compared through their Amazon book sales
4 JulRuby and Rails books, Textmate and FastRi
27 JunThe Apple approach (aka first impressions of the MacBook Pro)
19 JunOn Ruby and Rails Criticism
12 JunSwitching to Mac
10 JunLooking for a good laptop for Ruby development
1 JunGetting even more serious about blogging
12 AprPlanetDB2.com and a couple of updates
15 MarPython, Django and DB2: we need your input!
13 MarHaskell Eye for the Ruby Guy
19 FebRuby Implementations Shootout: Ruby vs Yarv vs JRuby vs Gardens Point Ruby .NET vs Rubinius vs Cardinal
10 FebTop 10 Ruby on Rails performance tips
8 FebActs As Suggest plugin
29 JanHow to run Ruby from Komodo Edit 4
27 JanPut DB2 in your search bar
24 JanJanuary’s goodies
7 JanTypo errors on postponed articles
5 JanCollage of Ruby and Rails books
5 JanRuby is the Programming Language of 2006
200630 posts
22 Decacts_as_one_year_blogging
19 DecDB2 9 for Windows Vista
18 DecRuby on Rails won’t make it in 2007?
6 DecDB2 on Rails v2.1 released
31 OctKeep an eye on djangobook.com
19 OctCASCON 2006 presentation material
17 OctCASCON 2006: Day One
7 OctA step by step guide on how to install Django with PostgreSQL on Windows
13 SepXML Webcast with IBM’s team plus free book
8 SepItalian Ruby book and cool suggested reading
3 SepMolecule: a much better name 😉
26 AugDownload Ruby 1.8.5 for Windows
26 AugDjango is great
26 JulPure XML Technology in DB2 9
24 JulTypo 4 released
3 JulRuby.NET Compiler
1 JulRails hosting review, 7 months later
29 JunTypo and Lucid theme error
15 JunStarter Toolkit for DB2 on Rails Update
5 JunDownload the Starter Toolkit for DB2 on Rails
24 MayPutting IBM databases on Rails
2 MayDownload Ruby 1.9 for Windows
31 MarWorking at IBM
8 Marself.move_to(Canada)
5 FebHow to parse decimal numbers within a string
30 JanSolving mathematical problems with Ruby
30 JanRuby Cookbook: Rough Cuts Version
22 JanRuby rocks and Java sucks?
11 JanHow to exclude an action from the controller’s layout processing
1 JanRails Hosting review
20055 posts
31 DecMoved to Typo
26 DecRMagick Project
24 DecRuby 1.8.4 released!
23 DecRuby 1.8.4 preview3
22 Decputs “Hello, Ruby!”