Author: sdowney

This is the shelter we stayed in. The high pitched roof helps keep the heat in, and the rain out. And the snow, although that mostly melted. This was the point of the whole trip. A garbage can cooked turkey to share with friends and family. The can acts as an oven, with the charcoal…

“my office looks like a bookstore exploded in it, and then an electronics store was dropped on it to smother the flames.” – J.Scalzihttp://scalzi.com/whatever/?p=152 The books are all triple stacked, and there are several more shelves surrounding the room….

So I bought it. And there was at least one more face out copy, besides the one you see here. And this is where I bought it: Penn Books on the LIRR Level of Penn Station. Small store, but many shelves of SF, particularly if you know to look under the display table across from…

Using the Standard C++ Library in a Functional style. The standard C++ library offers a number of algorithms that have nearly exact analogues in functional languages, and are used in almost the same way. In particular std::accumulate and std::transform are powerful, and very general, algorithms. In functional programming literature, accumulate is usually referred to as…

Since it really is an aha! moment, the best I can do is tell you what led me to it, and hope that helps. There is a difference between partial application and currying that most experts ignore, because they already understand, but they lie in wait ready to tell you that you have it all…

Introduction C++ is known to be a multi-paradigmed language. This is often construedto mean you can program in both a procedural and and object orientedstyle. This is too limiting a view. C++, particularly with modernlibrary support, is more than capable of supporting programming inthe functional style. Even without modern libraries like boost, orstd::tr1, the Standard…

OK, with that title, I’m sure to please almost no one. If you want to know how to do REST-ful programming in Haskell, or tie REST to C++, move along, there’s nothing to see here. The connection isn’t at the implementation level. Which is the whole point.So what do REST, Monads and (successful) Template Metaprogramming…

ohyesof coursei had forgottenmy god, it’s full of stars

I’m working through Types and Programming Languages, by Benjamin Pierce. I’m up to somewhere around chapter 13, References, but it’s starting not to make sense. Which means it’s time to back up and do more of the work, instead of just nodding as though I really understand it. One of the things he does is…