python

When I was in college, I used to look at the kids who took the compiler theory classes and loved to work in assembler and think to myself, “Thank goodness you like that stuff.  Now I can concentrate on solving real problems with C.”

Now I realize that I’m starting to look at C programmers the same way.  “Thank goodness you like that stuff.  Now I can concentrate on solving real problems with Python.”

I guess I’m just a “top of the stack” kind of guy.  Shoulders of giants and all that.

I’ve been working recently on “rescuing” some code I had written a year ago (under the codename KARPmusic) to control icecast and ices. It’s written in python, so at least that part is easy, but it was written against the TurboGears web development framework rather than Django which I’m using now. Thus, it’s not a simple copy/paste task.

I actually enjoy this kind of archaeological coding. It’s very zen-like because the underlying logic of the code is done and working. All I have to do is put a fresh coat of “syntax-paint” on it. Some might find that kind of coding tedious because you aren’t actually creating anything new. I like it because it allows me to focus on some of the more esoteric aspects of programming (e.g. coding-style, unit-testing) which usually take a back seat to functionality. Another benefit to this kind of code-migration is that I am personally confronted with how much better a python programmer I am now than a year ago.

Now, if I could just apply the same zen-like strategy to other aspects of my life. “I’m going back and re-integrating some of my childhood belief patterns into my current life. Anyone know what I can do with this ‘trust authority’ pattern I’ve found?”

Many of you know about the programming language python that I’ve become enamored with over the past year or so. Some of you may have thought I was talking about snakes or Monty.

For those of you that are interested, Curt (yes, Curt again, get used to hearing about him) just sent me a link to this cool video of a Google presentation, Advanced Python (or Understanding Python). Even if you’re an experienced snake charmer there’s probably something in there you didn’t know.

Oh, and this gives me a chance to try this “video embedding” that seems to be all the rage right now.