Plurrrr

Sat 26 Jun 2021

Functors and Monads For People Who Have Read Too Many "Tutorials"

Title is literally true. This may not be the best place to learn about these concepts for the first time, because I'm going to focus on knocking down the misconceptions about them.

Then again, it may not be the worst place, for the same reason.

I had promised myself I would not add to the pile of functor or monad "tutorials", but I've been worn down. I gave up when I saw a reddit comment complaining about how Functor was "too hard to understand", which made me sad, because the correct response to the Functor interface is, "That's it?". And while Monad is legitimately a bit more interesting and complex, the correct response to that is not that different.

Source: Functors and Monads For People Who Have Read Too Many "Tutorials", an article by Jeremy Bowers.

Exceptional Naming

One of the hardest things in software development is naming. Naming of products, of paradigms and of parts of your code. The reason naming is both hard and important is because it is an act of communication; without good names your code might as well be written in, well, code. A name is not simply a label: it informs and guides the reader’s mental model. Names can change the way the reader thinks. A good name is a sharing of minds; a poor name is a missed opportunity to learn and say what we mean.

Source: Exceptional Naming an article by Kevlin Henney.

The State of Python Packaging in 2021

Every year or so, I revisit the current best practices for Python packaging. I.e. the way you’re supposed to distribute your Python packages. The main source is packaging.python.org where the official packaging guidelines are. It is worth noting that the way you’re supposed to package your Python applications is not defined by Python or its maintainers, but rather delegated to a separate entity, the Python Packaging Authority (PyPA).

Source: The State of Python Packaging in 2021, an article by Bastian Venthur.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)

Harry Potter finds himself competing in a hazardous tournament between rival schools of magic, but he is distracted by recurring nightmares.

In the evening, Esme, Alice, and I watched Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Adam didn't want to watch; he had a cold and was not feeling well.

I had seen this movie before on the big screen back in Xalapa, Mexico. Back then I considered the movie chaotic and rated it only a 6 out of 10. I still stand with the chaotic part, but maybe the movie has grown upon me because I now give it a 7.5 out of 10.