Comments for Ted Leung on the Air http://www.sauria.com/blog Open Source, Modern Programming Languages, OS X, Photography, and ... Sat, 17 May 2008 18:17:05 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 Comment on JavaOne 2008: Part 1 by Ted Leung http://www.sauria.com/blog/2008/05/13/javaone-2008-part-1/#comment-15280 Ted Leung Fri, 16 May 2008 22:05:04 +0000 http://www.sauria.com/blog/2008/05/13/javaone-2008-part-1/#comment-15280 Here's a report on the panel mentioned in this post: http://www.adtmag.com/article.aspx?id=22629 Here’s a report on the panel mentioned in this post: http://www.adtmag.com/article.aspx?id=22629

]]> Comment on Scala liftoff by David Pollak http://www.sauria.com/blog/2008/05/14/scala-liftoff/#comment-15279 David Pollak Fri, 16 May 2008 15:42:00 +0000 http://www.sauria.com/blog/2008/05/14/scala-liftoff/#comment-15279 Ted, Thanks for your awesome write-up of the Scala lift off. In terms of Actor performance vs. C-style low-level performance, there are different reasons to use each. If you've got a lot of state in course-grains components and want to do multi-threaded work on a collection of components, then Actors are the right answer. Each actor dispatch takes hundreds if not thousands of instructions to process. If you've got very simple data structures and simple synchronization semantics, coding at the "metal" is going to yield better performance and when you're competing against well written, well tuned C code, coding at the metal counts. So, if I were writing a memcached clone or a spreadsheet, I'd be focusing my development efforts on tuning the last few cycles. That means writing very C-ish Scala/Java (pre-allocating buffers, minimizing byte-copying, integer offsets over arrays of bytes, etc.) On the other hand, if I was writing a system where there are many developers (more than me and one other guy with a mind-meld), where the synchronization semantics are complex (different threads can ask questions of each other during processing), and where I might have to distribute the collection across multiple JVMs (e.g., the Skittr example), I'd use Actors. Thanks, David Ted,

Thanks for your awesome write-up of the Scala lift off.

In terms of Actor performance vs. C-style low-level performance, there are different reasons to use each.

If you’ve got a lot of state in course-grains components and want to do multi-threaded work on a collection of components, then Actors are the right answer. Each actor dispatch takes hundreds if not thousands of instructions to process.

If you’ve got very simple data structures and simple synchronization semantics, coding at the “metal” is going to yield better performance and when you’re competing against well written, well tuned C code, coding at the metal counts.

So, if I were writing a memcached clone or a spreadsheet, I’d be focusing my development efforts on tuning the last few cycles. That means writing very C-ish Scala/Java (pre-allocating buffers, minimizing byte-copying, integer offsets over arrays of bytes, etc.)

On the other hand, if I was writing a system where there are many developers (more than me and one other guy with a mind-meld), where the synchronization semantics are complex (different threads can ask questions of each other during processing), and where I might have to distribute the collection across multiple JVMs (e.g., the Skittr example), I’d use Actors.

Thanks,

David

]]> Comment on JavaOne 2008: Part 2 by Donnie Berkholz http://www.sauria.com/blog/2008/05/13/javaone-2008-part-2/#comment-15275 Donnie Berkholz Thu, 15 May 2008 06:31:57 +0000 http://www.sauria.com/blog/2008/05/13/javaone-2008-part-2/#comment-15275 Thanks for responding, Ted -- I was thinking more horizontally than vertically, I guess. I'm glad I randomly checked back, since I wasn't able to subscribe to new comments. Thanks for responding, Ted — I was thinking more horizontally than vertically, I guess. I’m glad I randomly checked back, since I wasn’t able to subscribe to new comments.

]]> Comment on JavaOne 2008: Part 2 by Ted Leung http://www.sauria.com/blog/2008/05/13/javaone-2008-part-2/#comment-15271 Ted Leung Wed, 14 May 2008 05:54:38 +0000 http://www.sauria.com/blog/2008/05/13/javaone-2008-part-2/#comment-15271 Because some folks want to explicitly not support really old versions of browsers. Also, the code completion is smart enough to warn you which methods will work in which browsers, which is also a big help. Because some folks want to explicitly not support really old versions of browsers. Also, the code completion is smart enough to warn you which methods will work in which browsers, which is also a big help.

]]> Comment on JavaOne 2008: Part 2 by Donnie Berkholz http://www.sauria.com/blog/2008/05/13/javaone-2008-part-2/#comment-15270 Donnie Berkholz Wed, 14 May 2008 05:51:00 +0000 http://www.sauria.com/blog/2008/05/13/javaone-2008-part-2/#comment-15270 Why should JavaScript browser support be configurable? That seems like it would encourage people to disable support for one browser or another instead of write code that works everywhere. Why should JavaScript browser support be configurable? That seems like it would encourage people to disable support for one browser or another instead of write code that works everywhere.

]]> Comment on Erlang == CGI? by JavaOne 2008: Part 2 at Ted Leung on the Air http://www.sauria.com/blog/2008/04/29/erlang-cgi/#comment-15269 JavaOne 2008: Part 2 at Ted Leung on the Air Wed, 14 May 2008 04:49:14 +0000 http://www.sauria.com/blog/2008/04/29/erlang-cgi/#comment-15269 [...] particularly interested because the PI’s for Maxine worked on PJava, and MVM. Given the differences between the Erlang VM and the JVM, I think that the ability to experiment with MVM is going to be pretty interesting. Apparently, [...] [...] particularly interested because the PI’s for Maxine worked on PJava, and MVM. Given the differences between the Erlang VM and the JVM, I think that the ability to experiment with MVM is going to be pretty interesting. Apparently, [...]

]]> Comment on (Finally) upgraded to Leopard by Maarten http://www.sauria.com/blog/2008/04/30/finally-upgraded-to-leopard/#comment-15267 Maarten Mon, 12 May 2008 20:52:38 +0000 http://www.sauria.com/blog/2008/04/30/finally-upgraded-to-leopard/#comment-15267 I'd be curious to hear how Spaces is working for you. I find it both a blessing and a curse--it's nice to segregate my contexts, but it's set up to have each app assigned to one space, rather than used everywhere, and the resulting window system behavior can be quite annoying. I'm a big fan of Witch for window switching from the keyboard. Have you found add-ons to help out with Spaces? I’d be curious to hear how Spaces is working for you. I find it both a blessing and a curse–it’s nice to segregate my contexts, but it’s set up to have each app assigned to one space, rather than used everywhere, and the resulting window system behavior can be quite annoying.

I’m a big fan of Witch for window switching from the keyboard. Have you found add-ons to help out with Spaces?

]]> Comment on CommunityOne by Marc’s Voice » Blog Archive » More May '08 blogging http://www.sauria.com/blog/2008/05/07/communityone/#comment-15254 Marc’s Voice » Blog Archive » More May '08 blogging Thu, 08 May 2008 18:46:10 +0000 http://www.sauria.com/blog/2008/05/07/communityone/#comment-15254 [...] Ted Leung reports on CommunityOne [...] [...] Ted Leung reports on CommunityOne [...]

]]> Comment on CommunityOne by james governor http://www.sauria.com/blog/2008/05/07/communityone/#comment-15253 james governor Thu, 08 May 2008 16:23:02 +0000 http://www.sauria.com/blog/2008/05/07/communityone/#comment-15253 hey nice write up. one bug- that's Twitter's Jay Edwards. hey nice write up. one bug- that’s Twitter’s Jay Edwards.

]]> Comment on The Open Screen project by Ryan Stewart http://www.sauria.com/blog/2008/05/01/the-open-screen-project/#comment-15246 Ryan Stewart Mon, 05 May 2008 22:27:56 +0000 http://www.sauria.com/blog/2008/05/01/the-open-screen-project/#comment-15246 Hey Ted, I'd be curious how you'd help keep incompatible versions of Flash from happening. I think at this point no one really wants to do that so I'm not sure how much of a worry it is. @James, I'm not sure what you mean by the scripting objects in Flash. Let me know and I'll try to dig some info up for you. =Ryan rstewart@adobe.com Hey Ted, I’d be curious how you’d help keep incompatible versions of Flash from happening. I think at this point no one really wants to do that so I’m not sure how much of a worry it is.

@James, I’m not sure what you mean by the scripting objects in Flash. Let me know and I’ll try to dig some info up for you.

=Ryan
rstewart@adobe.com

]]> Comment on The Open Screen project by James http://www.sauria.com/blog/2008/05/01/the-open-screen-project/#comment-15235 James Sat, 03 May 2008 10:59:43 +0000 http://www.sauria.com/blog/2008/05/01/the-open-screen-project/#comment-15235 The file format information was <a href="http://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/swfdec/2008-May/001459.html" rel="nofollow">already available</a>, but there's still no information (let alone a spec) available on the scripting objects in flash, which is the hard part. The file format information was already available, but there’s still no information (let alone a spec) available on the scripting objects in flash, which is the hard part.

]]> Comment on The Open Screen project by Kevin Dangoor http://www.sauria.com/blog/2008/05/01/the-open-screen-project/#comment-15234 Kevin Dangoor Fri, 02 May 2008 16:14:09 +0000 http://www.sauria.com/blog/2008/05/01/the-open-screen-project/#comment-15234 It's interesting to note that PDF seemed to do just fine as it became increasingly open to outside implementations. Let's hope that the same happens with Flash. It’s interesting to note that PDF seemed to do just fine as it became increasingly open to outside implementations. Let’s hope that the same happens with Flash.

]]> Comment on Adobe open sources Flex by The Open Screen project at Ted Leung on the Air http://www.sauria.com/blog/2007/04/25/adobe-open-sources-flex/#comment-15233 The Open Screen project at Ted Leung on the Air Fri, 02 May 2008 00:33:14 +0000 http://www.sauria.com/blog/2007/04/25/adobe-open-sources-flex/#comment-15233 [...] this time last year, Adobe open sourced its Flex framework for rich internet applications. Today Adobe announced the Open Screen project, [...] [...] this time last year, Adobe open sourced its Flex framework for rich internet applications. Today Adobe announced the Open Screen project, [...]

]]> Comment on (Finally) upgraded to Leopard by Ycros http://www.sauria.com/blog/2008/04/30/finally-upgraded-to-leopard/#comment-15231 Ycros Thu, 01 May 2008 07:52:25 +0000 http://www.sauria.com/blog/2008/04/30/finally-upgraded-to-leopard/#comment-15231 Spaces loses windows randomly, and I find this really annoying. It doesn't happen often, but it was happening enough that I've stopped using it. Spaces loses windows randomly, and I find this really annoying. It doesn’t happen often, but it was happening enough that I’ve stopped using it.

]]> Comment on (Finally) upgraded to Leopard by evgen http://www.sauria.com/blog/2008/04/30/finally-upgraded-to-leopard/#comment-15230 evgen Thu, 01 May 2008 04:09:29 +0000 http://www.sauria.com/blog/2008/04/30/finally-upgraded-to-leopard/#comment-15230 One somewhat obscure trick is that if you are doing Time Machine backups over wireless you really, _really_ want to disable delayed_ack. Not doing this can make afp transfers (like Time Machine backups) take forever... You can set it manually via "sysctl -w net.tcp.delayed_ack=0" but that won't survive a reboot, so google for "DelayedAckHack" and install the little launchdaemon script which sets it on every reboot. One somewhat obscure trick is that if you are doing Time Machine backups over wireless you really, _really_ want to disable delayed_ack. Not doing this can make afp transfers (like Time Machine backups) take forever… You can set it manually via “sysctl -w net.tcp.delayed_ack=0″ but that won’t survive a reboot, so google for “DelayedAckHack” and install the little launchdaemon script which sets it on every reboot.

]]> Comment on (Finally) upgraded to Leopard by mikeal http://www.sauria.com/blog/2008/04/30/finally-upgraded-to-leopard/#comment-15229 mikeal Thu, 01 May 2008 03:26:55 +0000 http://www.sauria.com/blog/2008/04/30/finally-upgraded-to-leopard/#comment-15229 It took me months to make time machine not suck. Out of the box I find it basically unusable. First, enable the use of any network drive for backups using : http://www.xiotios.com/itimemachine.html Then set Time Machine to stop backing up every time it mounts the network drive and set it to only backup once a day at 12:01am using: http://timesoftware.free.fr/timemachineeditor/ It took me months to make time machine not suck. Out of the box I find it basically unusable.

First, enable the use of any network drive for backups using :
http://www.xiotios.com/itimemachine.html

Then set Time Machine to stop backing up every time it mounts the network drive and set it to only backup once a day at 12:01am using:
http://timesoftware.free.fr/timemachineeditor/

]]> Comment on (Finally) upgraded to Leopard by Jon Stevens http://www.sauria.com/blog/2008/04/30/finally-upgraded-to-leopard/#comment-15228 Jon Stevens Thu, 01 May 2008 03:00:44 +0000 http://www.sauria.com/blog/2008/04/30/finally-upgraded-to-leopard/#comment-15228 Quicklook is great. I use it all the time now. Click an icon and use the space bar to active it. Quicklook is great. I use it all the time now. Click an icon and use the space bar to active it.

]]> Comment on (Finally) upgraded to Leopard by petrilli http://www.sauria.com/blog/2008/04/30/finally-upgraded-to-leopard/#comment-15227 petrilli Thu, 01 May 2008 01:51:27 +0000 http://www.sauria.com/blog/2008/04/30/finally-upgraded-to-leopard/#comment-15227 I too use Spaces, and you can at least set it to allow you to use Control/Command/Option + Numberkey to switch spaces. So I have mine set to ^1 for space 1, etc. Works great for me. I too use Spaces, and you can at least set it to allow you to use Control/Command/Option + Numberkey to switch spaces. So I have mine set to ^1 for space 1, etc. Works great for me.

]]> Comment on Erlang == CGI? by steven http://www.sauria.com/blog/2008/04/29/erlang-cgi/#comment-15226 steven Wed, 30 Apr 2008 15:09:41 +0000 http://www.sauria.com/blog/2008/04/29/erlang-cgi/#comment-15226 As much as it's shared nothing, CGI has something in common with Erlang processes, but Erlang processes don't have to perform one operation and then die and they can communicate with each other, so there's a lot that to the Erlang model that's not even close to the CGI model. But it is true that that they share(!) the shared-nothing increases in isolation-based reliability. As much as it’s shared nothing, CGI has something in common with Erlang processes, but Erlang processes don’t have to perform one operation and then die and they can communicate with each other, so there’s a lot that to the Erlang model that’s not even close to the CGI model.

But it is true that that they share(!) the shared-nothing increases in isolation-based reliability.

]]> Comment on Stefano is looking for a job by Shakira http://www.sauria.com/blog/2008/03/12/stefano-is-looking-for-a-job/#comment-15225 Shakira Wed, 30 Apr 2008 10:39:35 +0000 http://www.sauria.com/blog/2008/03/12/stefano-is-looking-for-a-job/#comment-15225 Where are you? I've got jobs in South Africa - Johannesburg? Where are you? I’ve got jobs in South Africa - Johannesburg?

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