Answers to a reader’s questions about bits of tech

It be time for a spherical of responses to reader feedback. This one is a
tiny varied in that it came in as a single blob of many questions
from a single nameless submitter. It be largely about applied sciences and
programming languages, and I’m going to honest warn you appropriate now that I are inclined to
be stunning slow in this regard. Read on within the occasion you’ve got to!

What’s your capture on AVX-512? Maintain you ever old it in any of your projects
to crawl your code? Maintain you ever dabbled in machine learning/deep
learning? Is C++ gathered the language of your decision or are you the utilization of
Python too? I’d be taken aback within the occasion you accomplish no longer exhaust Python because from
what I hear, vivid Python or being ready to learn it is stunning worthy a
requirement for working at Google. Were you ever compelled to learn a fresh
language at any of your jobs or attributable to a shopper’s requirements? How was once
the skills? What number of programming languages are you fluent in? Assemble you
capture Intel or AMD on the present time? Maintain you ever carried out any GPGPU stuff? How about
blockchain connected stuff? I do know. So many questions. I’m honest outlandish 🙂

Taking them one at a time, then…

AVX-512? I needed to behold it up to be obvious. It appears to be like to be a bunch of
Intel-specific
extensions
which let you crunch numbers in worthy more wild and wacky ways. Given
that I accomplish no longer write x86[-64] assembly true now, it be nothing that’s
intentionally been added to any of my projects. In the no longer in point of fact case
that some compiler knows about it and decided to bake it into a binary,
I *guessit will likely be in there, but no longer because I requested for it.

The almost definitely case would be within the low level GNU Radio
number-crunching stuff (VOLK), but even then, it’d be occurring
without me vivid worthy about it. I’ve by no contrivance been worthy for graphics or
something else of the kind, so all the MMX, SSE, and varied issues which
comprise come up all the contrivance thru the final twenty years are mostly off my radar.

Machine learning and deep learning? Nope, no longer in actuality. This sounds adore
yet any other number/math-heavy enviornment which is no longer in actuality my gain within the first
position. This ties help to the AVX ask: the issues I discontinuance up doing
accomplish no longer most continuously invoke any of that stuff.

C++ is gathered my default language for random stuff, no longer that I’m precisely
building issues en masse on the present time. I comprise my present projects and
comprise been experimenting with issues adore the “what if threads were no
object”. Exercise into tale that my decision of languages is pushed by accurate
wants, honest uncover it irresistible was once
six years within the past.

I accomplish no longer exhaust Python if I will be capable to inspire it. There is a time and a position for
Python honest adore there’s a time and a position for shell scripts, but you
instant exceed the boundaries of sanity for both. My closing Python project of
any scale was once carried out on an present codebase internal an environment where
all the pieces no longer-Python was once handled as if it did no longer exist at handiest, or with
active hostility in some cases. In preference to pull a “we have to rewrite
this”, I honest stayed with the present Python contaminated and wrote all the pieces
that was once wanted internal of that.

Incidentally, this project is where I picked up my
feelings
about Python, Gunicorn, Gevent and Flask by extension. The part I had
carried out with it was once tiny and tiresome, on condition that it was once most engrossing being hit by
other folks and their web browsers, but the accurate same tech stack was once
being old for “companies and products”, and badly at that. It was once incredibly
inefficient and failed requests left and appropriate since it would construct the
beforehand-described part of taking a few requests on greenlets, and
would day outing moderately about a them.

It have to gathered no longer surprise somebody that this components was once based spherical *gargantuannumbers of retries, and no longer only from the customers. There comprise been also
inner retry multipliers in position, such that when yet any other
backend system went down, varied neighboring companies and products would ramp up their
retries and boil them. One quiz from the outdoor world can even flip
into dozens of requests on the internal, moderately about a them wasted effort.

I received’t even hotfoot into the subject where carrier A would dispatch
a few identical requests to carrier B simultaneously, and would then
capture the first response and fall the 2d connection. When
challenged, they called it an optimization. I called it a raze of
resources and a rationalization of a hideous implementation.

And other folks surprise why their cloud payments are so high, or why that app
working on the phone of their hand appears to be like so laggy at instances. It be stuff
adore this.

Referring to Google and Python, neatly, hotfoot, they did are attempting and fabricate me exhaust it
for a starter project capacity help in 2006. Provided that I was once having to
learn the internal secret sauce on the identical time, I made up my mind that one
unknown was once enough and did it with C++ in its put. It ended badly, in no
tiny portion for the reason that reviewer looked to comprise accurate disorders with the truth
I rejected his precious Python.

I did work on a plump-scale Python project at Google several years later,
and got to behold such phenomenal issues as
what occurs
within the occasion you add forks (with out a following exec) to a program that’s
already working threads. I also got to behold the humble sense of “it
honest does that” once I remarked that we must always gathered no longer be ready to
ship something that amounts to this:

if consequence:
  good_thing()
else:
  syntax error

The fact we could well no longer uncover this before transport it to manufacturing and
having it explode honest blew my mind. As any individual who had been compiling
stuff for a in actuality very prolonged time, it made no sense why it is doubtless you’ll perhaps are searching to manufacture
a mountainous system with many shifting components in this means. It be completely
avoidable!

Cats can no longer beep, finally.

Maintain I been “compelled” to learn a language for a job or a shopper? I
guess? I suggest, I went into Google in 2006 no longer vivid C++, no longer in actuality,
and I came out of it considerably better than that (nobody ever in actuality
completely knows a language unless they wrote it, and per chance no longer even then).
Years of doing stuff with it after that point has tightened it up moderately
somewhat.

What number of programming languages am I fluent in? Err, neatly, uh. Hmm. I
guess the ask is whether or no longer that involves searching at varied issues, or
honest conjuring it out of skinny air on demand.

In case you adore to comprise something I will be capable to honest construct without searching on the relaxation
with an inexpensive quantity of depth, then that can perhaps well be C++ and C.

While you safe into the realm of “would doubtlessly prefer to behold something
up”, now it is doubtless you’ll perhaps well presumably be talking about a gargantuan many varied languages, moderately about a
which I old to exhaust all day daily help when those were my “part”.

One such example: BASIC, namely a few variants: the “Commodore
v2” form of MS BASIC, gwbasic, IBM’s ROM BASIC realized on their PC
objects, and hotfoot, MS QuickBasic on DOS. I will be capable to gathered take cling of any of those
environments and construct something boring adore making it print something in a
loop, however the finer points received’t be appropriate there to any extent extra. It be
been, what, 25 years or so since I closing did any of this for accurate?

One other one: Turbo Pascal. Identical part here: I will be capable to even doubtlessly safe a
program to assemble and writeln about a boring issues to the account for, however the
necessary points of stuff adore file I/O (accumulate, rewrite, reset?) would require
some refreshing glances.

The checklist honest roughly goes on adore this. I’ve also old Python, Java,
Perl, JavaScript, and doubtlessly some varied hideous issues over time
to safe something carried out. I’d no longer ask to be capable to honest write actual
code in any of them appropriate off the head of my head at this point.
Every so continuously that’s from no longer bothering to safe deep into it within the first
position, and normally that’s honest from it evaporating over time.

I normally relate that given a necessity, I’m going to search out a sort to be necessary in a
given context. So, within the occasion you take a look at me for what I do know now, it is doubtless you’ll perhaps well presumably safe
one reply, but within the occasion you behold help on what I managed to construct after the truth,
it is doubtless you’ll perhaps safe something else completely. Amusing, on condition that interviews have a tendency
to behold for the aged and no longer the latter, appropriate?

What construct appropriate now versus what can you construct, ever? These are
very varied issues.

…

Referring to Intel vs. AMD, neatly, I
abominate hardware.
I are attempting and no longer sustain be conscious of it until it matters, adore when a machine
blows up and have to be modified, or some fresh need requires more CPU
energy than I comprise spherical now. Then I’d like to learn all the fresh
craziness the enterprise has come up with for the reason that closing time I looked
and solve for yet any other first price system.

I’ve had AMD-based machines and Intel-based machines. My most engrossing accurate
preference in them was once decidedly no longer searching to burn down my
residence if the CPU thermal protection stuff failed. That one video of an
AMD CPU initiating to smoke when the heat sink was once lifted off left a
stunning mountainous affect on me for several years later on.

GPGPU-wise, neatly, again, no longer my part. The combination of no longer doing
graphics or math-heavy stuff and hating the world of hardware in overall
contrivance I will be capable to honest ignore whatever doubtlessly the most stylish nuttiness can even be in that
world. No longer being a PC gamer or bitcoin miner also contrivance I accomplish no longer prefer to
care about it.

All of those of us that blew all that time gluing in add-on boards in
the 90s, or doing one board for peculiar scan traces and yet any other for evens,
and preventing over FPS and all of that? Fully no longer my scene. I honest
stood off to the facet and scoffed on the complete mess, and in overall gathered
construct.

Accurate because some tech exists does no longer suggest it be on my radar if it hasn’t
precipitated a problem or change into the strategy to a problem. There is honest a long way
too worthy stuff occurring to even strive in any other case.