zoooom!

[trochee]

I love how fast I can prototype in Perl when I'm focused.

I am aware, though, that the result may be some very slow code. I wish I knew a little more about databases because I feel like a lot of my work is just finding clever ways to keep stuff out of RAM while processing. But I'm on a deadline and I think I'll hack it with Storable and explicit freeze and thaw ops.

at some point, I may actually sit down here and write up what I'm up to for this machine translation task.

Comments

[marlo.livejournal.com]

As I slowly learn how to use the Linux shell, I begin to realize the delightful parallel between computer languages and human languages. It's decidedly less mathy and more grammar/logic-y than I thought it would be.

[trochee.livejournal.com]

yes, that's an interesting insight. a lot of programming is much more like learning-a-foreign-language grammar (agreement, vocabulary, inflection) than it is like math.

most of what I do is much more like writing (trying to find good ways to easily express something) than like mathematics (trying to find a proof).

An awful lot of programs can solve the problem. Some (in fact, many) may take so long to run that they're not useful. thus solving problems in programming languages is sometimes more like writing exposition than like mathematical proof.

[marlo.livejournal.com]

like writing minimalist exposition. haiku and Hemingway. Trying to use as little as possible.