When Is It Okay to Reinvent the Wheel in Programming?

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One of the most common pieces of advice to new programmers is to not get “not invented here” syndrome and to not reinvent the wheel. Like most general rules of thumb, context is everything. While it’s pretty common sense to say don’t reinvent the wheel for the sake of reinventing the wheel, where do you draw the line between doing something the same but different enough to matter, and where do you draw the line between academic exercise and inertia?… Read the rest

A Review of “Mastering Algorithms with Perl”

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This is another hit from O’Relly for learning Perl. The Perl Cookbook is good, but it focuses on the language and how to accomplish specific tasks, but not why we use certain methods rather than others. Let’s dive straight into the book.

About the Book

This book has a lot of math, but most of it is accessible with college calculus and a strong resolve.… Read the rest

Getting Classy With Inheritance In Lua

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We’re going to cover the basics of inheritance in Lua. Lua doesn’t have native classes, so don’t expect things like multiple inheritance or similar to be practical. I basically have never used inheritance in Lua in any serious capacity outside of very few specific situations.

We’re going to cover basic inheritance using the default “class system” in Lua, how to add functions, and how to override functions.… Read the rest

Goal-Setting: Turning Procrastination Into Productivity

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I can find a lot of things I’d rather do than write if I’m not feeling it. A lot of things. The internet is chock full of things I can waste time on, so is my computer, or my bookshelf, or anywhere really.

I can procrastinate bad when I’m anxious or don’t know how to move forward. The problem is, I need to find a way to increase my income while working around my home situation.… Read the rest