Heard about this from Tarek, and you can find more of them on Planet Python (where I found Tarek’s post). Whatโs the coolest Python application, framework or library you have discovered in 2009? Probably Tornado. Tornado is an interesting application, because it blurs the line a bit between a framework like Django and a traditional…
Category: Sysadmin
CodeKata 4: Data Munging
I’m continuing to take on the items in Dave Thomas’s Code Kata collection. It’s a nice way to spend a Sunday night, and it’s a good way to get my brain going again before work on Monday morning. It’s also fun and educational ๐ CodeKata 4 is called “Data Munging”. It’s not very difficult data…
PyYaml with Aliases and Anchors
I didn’t know this little tidbit until yesterday and want to get it posted so I can refer to it later. I have this YAML config file that’s kinda long and has a lot of duplication in it. This isn’t what I’m working on, but let’s just say that you have a bunch of backup…
Python, PostgreSQL, and psycopg2’s Dusty Corners
Last time I wrote code with psycopg2 was around 2006, but I was reacquainted with it over the past couple of weeks, and I wanted to make some notes on a couple of features that are not well documented, imho. Portions of this post have been snipped from mailing list threads I was involved in….
A Couple of Python Tools for Tornado or AMQP Users
Hi all, Not lots of time to blog since starting my new gig as Senior Operations Developer at MyYearbook.com (which is pretty awesome, btw), but wanted to let anyone who’s interested know about a couple of tools I’ve released on github: bunny is a CLI tool for doing quick tests and simple operations on an…
Python Quirks in Cmd, urllib2, and decorators
So, if you haven’t been following along, Python programming now occupies the bulk of my work day. While I really like writing code and like it more using Python, no language is without its quirks. Let me say up front that I don’t consider these quirks bugs or big hulking issues. I’m not trying to…
New Job, Car, Baby, and Other News
New Baby! I know this is my geek blog, but geeks have kids too, so first I want to announce the birth of our second daughter, Sadie, who was born on September 15th. She’s now over a month old. This is the first time I’ve stayed up late enough to blog about her. Everyone is…
Sys/DB Admin and Coder Seeks Others To Build Web “A-Team”
UPDATE: There’s no location requirement. I kind of assume that I’m not going to find the best people by geographically limiting my search for potential partners. ๐ Me: Live in Princeton, NJ area. Over 10 years experience with UNIX/Linux administration, databases and data modeling, and PHP/Perl. About 3 years experience using Python for back-end scripting…
If You Code, You Should Write
The Practice of Programming Programmers are, in essence, problem solvers. They live to solve problems. When they identify a problem that needs solving, they cannot resist the temptation to study it, poke and prod it, and get to know it intimately. They then start considering solutions. At this point, the programmer is not often thinking…
Cool Mac/Mobile Software for Sysadmins, Programmers, and People
I recently upgraded my primary workhorse (a MacBook Pro) to Snow Leopard. Before I did, I decided to go through and take stock of all of the documents and software I’d accumulated. While I was doing this, I simultaneously got into a conversation with a buddy of mine about the software he uses on his…