Would you describe your code as “confident” or “timid”? That’s not a question I had really ever considered before watching this talk by Avdi Grimm, which shows how we can write code which doesn’t have to second-guess itself or its inputs. The code becomes easier to read and more maintainable. The examples all use Ruby, but can apply to many different languages, and particularly dynamic object-oriented languages.
The Web was originally aimed at people using browsers on computers. But the Web isn’t only for people any more, and they’re not only running browsers, and they’re not only using what we think of as computers. Does this mean that browsers are dead? Tim Bray describes the current state of affairs, and considers future trends in the computer industry.
Python has been popular for many years, but now its popularity is growing even faster. What does the future hold for Python? And why is it becoming so popular among so many different groups? In this talk, Jessica McKellar describes the current state of affairs, and where Python is weak — and thus needs to improve, in order to attract new developers. She especially encourages people who love Python to contribute to the community, so that the language can avoid the fate of Perl, whose popularity has declined significantly in the last two decades.
Client-side frameworks — Angular and Ember, for example — are increasingly popular. What does that mean for development, and what hidden traps might there be in these frameworks? Developer and lecturer Sarah Mei introduces the idea of client-side frameworks, and reminds us that not everything about them is necessarily easy to work with, or obvious.
PostgreSQL uses processes, rather than threads. In order for them to communicate, they use shared memory. In this talk, PostgreSQL contributor Bruce Momjian describes how PostgreSQL uses shared memory, and what data is contains and passes among the various processes. If you always wanted to know how PostgreSQL stores and retrieves information before it goes onto the disk, this talk is for you!
Python 3 was released more than five years ago — and yet, most Python developers are still using version 2.x of the language. In this talk, well-known Python author, lecturer, and contributor David Beazley demonstrates one of the advantages of Python 3 that isn’t often discussed: The degree to which metaprogramming (i.e., writing programs that write programs) is possible. The entertaining three-hour talk introduces metaprogramming concepts, along with many examples of when and why you would want to use these techniques.
The idea of REST has been around for a while, and a number of Web application frameworks depend on it. There’s only one problem: Not everyone agrees on just what REST is, and how it should influence the architecture of our Web applications. In this talk, Stefan Tikov talks about what REST is, what it isn’t, and how it can and should affect the way in which you think about and build Web applications.
JavaScript continues not only to gain ground as a popular programming language, but also as a language whose next version (ES6) will include features that make programmers’ lives easier. In this short (10-minute) video, developer Glen Maddern demonstrates how a number of next-generation JavaScript (ES6) features (including package management) make it remarkably easy to manipulate data — with less of the wordy overhead that previous versions of the language required.
Many people use Git every day. And for many of them, it’s enough to be able to commit, branch, merge, push, and pull. But after a while, many Git users discover that there are lots of hidden tricks and functions hiding inside of Git. In this talk, GitHub trainer Matthew McCullough introduces many of the advanced aspects of Git, providing tips and tools that give Git users even more control over their project’s history.
Git makes a lot of sense … but only after you understand what it is doing, and what the commands mean. In this talk, Jessica Kerr introduces the concepts behind Git — not the commands or what to type, but why and how Git lets you do certain things. If you have been using Git without understanding what the commands really do,