codeless_code 0.1.2

data/data/the-codeless-code/en-qi/case-144.txt

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+Number: 144
+Title: Mnemonic
+Date: 2014-05-11
+Geekiness: 1
+Names: Djishin, Temple of the White Iron Sky, Temple of the Morning Brass Gong, Kaimu
+Topics: teaching, logic, mnemonics, booleans, writing, Perl
+
+As [[#143|Djishin left the Temple of the White Iron Sky]] to return home,
+a hand fell on his shoulder.  "Brother," said a monk in white robes, "I
+see by your habit you are from the [[Temple of the Morning Brass Gong]]."
+
+"To deny this would be to speak a falsehood," said Djishin.
+
+"I have heard that it is a cruel place, where the foolish are corrected
+with humiliation and injury, if not outright execution," said the monk.
+
+"To deny this would be to speak a falsehood," said Djishin,
+"yet to affirm it would also be so."
+
+"I do not see," said the monk.
+
+"A temple's greatness lies in the stories told of it," said Djishin,
+"Thus our scribe will sometimes [[#89|revise our annals]] to make
+the tales therein more... memorable."
+
+"Then your most sacred Event Log is not to be trusted?" asked the monk in
+astonishment.
+
+/"Null,"/ answered Djishin calmly, as master Kaimu [[#24|had taught him]].
+"You may trust the annals to be faithful to the /spirit/ of the events
+which occurred, rather than the specifics of those events."
+
+The monk spat on the ground at Djishin's feet.  "Your words have all the
+convoluted logic of one who still codes in procedures.  How could you come
+here hoping to grasp the fundamentals of provably correct
+algorithms, when you cannot even distinguish true from false?"
+
+Quick as an eyeblink, Djishin broke a branch from a tree and struck the
+white-robed monk across the stomach.  Djishin continued to pummel the
+speechless monk, yelling as each blow fell:
+
+<div align="center"><i>
+"In Perl, underline is understood!<br/>
+In Perl, underline is understood!"
+</i></div>
+
+Terrified, the monk ran from Djishin, nearly knocking over an old nun
+as he sped up the tower steps and vanished through its doors.
+
+"What purpose has this violence?" demanded the nun of Djishin.
+
+"I wished for your monk to learn the Perl <tt>$_</tt> mnemonic, and to never
+forget it," said Djishin.
+
+"But we do not use Perl here," said the nun.
+
+"That is why I chose it," said Djishin.  "From now on, whenever he tells the
+story of the mad visitor who answered his question with the limb of a tree,
+he will quote the strange words I shouted.  And when he understands /why/
+he still knows them, he will grasp the algorithm of the scribe of the
+Morning Brass Gong."

data/data/the-codeless-code/en-qi/case-145.txt

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+Date: 2014-05-18
+Number: 145
+Title: Five Years
+Names: Shinpuru, Spider Clan
+Topics: progress, career, joy-hacking, change
+Geekiness: 1
+
+The [[#142|new abbot]] of the [[Spider Clan]] happened upon
+the old monk [[Shinpuru]] weeding his garden.
+
+Said the abbot, "You have been content to remain a humble
+developer all your life.  Many times you have been offered
+the post of abbot, yet each time you declined.  Now the
+few hairs clinging to your head are pale and thin.
+Have you no ambition?  As we ask the applicants:
+where do you see yourself in five years?"
+
+Shinpuru plucked a dandelion that had gone to seed and blew
+hard upon its puffball.  Silver seedlings scattered, wafting
+up on the breeze.  Shinpuru gave the bald broken stem to
+the abbot, and without another word resumed his gardening.
+
+Later that day the abbot told this story to master
+[[Banzen]].  Producing the dead stem from his robes, the
+abbot said, "The aimless monk Shinpuru looks forward to
+nothing but his own death."
+
+Banzen only laughed.  "I asked that same question of the
+/applicant/ Shinpuru when his face was framed by a lion's
+mane, and I received the same answer.  There was no Java in
+those days, no XML, no HTTP.  We coded in C and shell
+scripts, and spoke with wonder of the changes we had seen:
+for the days of punch-cards and abacus-engines were still
+fresh in our memories.  And now?  Now the venerable Shinpuru
+downloads odd source packages from distant lands, toying
+with Ruby and Dojo as a gardener might experiment with
+exotic seeds.  Who knows what strange languages he will have
+mastered five years hence?  Meanwhile I will have conducted
+two thousand miserable code reviews, and you will have filed
+two thousand unread daily reports."
+
+The master pointed to the sky.  "Tell me: where now are
+those ambitionless seedlings that Shinpuru blew into the air?"
+
+"I cannot say," said the abbot.  "West or east of where we
+stand; drifting on the ocean or circling that tree."
+
+"Five years hence they could be lighting on the moon, with a
+splendid view of the world below," said the master.
+"Remember Shinpuru's rebuke while you savor your new
+station, young abbot!  The stem may grow tall, but its roots
+are stubborn and its fate is easily foreseen."

data/data/the-codeless-code/en-qi/case-146.txt

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+Date: 2014-05-25
+Number: 146
+Title: Box Model
+Geekiness: 2
+Names: Zjing, Wangohan, Landhwa
+Topics: aesthetics, web interfaces, user experience, CSS, JQuery, Javascript
+Illus.0.src: carton.jpg
+Illus.0.title: That's not a "grease stain"... it's a "flavor indicator".
+
+
+The nun [[Zjing]] had returned to her domicile in the lonely
+valley below the Temple cliffs.  Yet telecommuting did not
+insulate her from the ongoing dramas of Temple life,
+and it was not long before the senior monk [[Wangohan]]
+began to bombard her with complaints about his longtime adversary,
+the monk [[Landhwa]].
+
+Wangohan messaged:
+
+      We were each given a new application to develop, //
+      using the [[#120|framework]] I introduced to the temple... //
+
+      I have written numerous unit and functional tests; //
+      Landhwa has written none, and he swallows exceptions //
+      to avoid vomiting them on the screen...
+
+      I validate all input on the server-side; //
+      Landhwa depends on Javascript to sanitize his data, //
+      though his trickery can be disabled on any client... //
+
+      I generate simple, standards-compliant HTML; //
+      Landhwa stitches together slick JQuery plug-ins, //
+      trusting the browser to render his mess...
+
+      We demoed our systems this morning. //
+      All the customer's praise unjustly went to Landhwa. //
+      None went to me.
+
+
+Zjing reflected on Wangohan's tendency to poison those who
+irritated him.{{*}}  To save Landhwa an unpleasant night
+on the bathroom floor, she replied:
+
+      Send me the URLs for both your systems.  //
+      I shall investigate.
+
+- - -
+
+The following day, Wangohan received a parcel from the nun
+containing two boxes.  The first, a box of fine black
+lacquer, held a lunch that was the picture of supreme
+aesthetic harmony: eight tiny compartments in which were
+laid sauces, sizzling meat, and vegetables all evenly cut,
+arrayed around a square bowl of steaming rice garnished with
+flowers of appetizing hues.  The second, a plain white box
+of oily cardboard, appeared to hold the same ingredients --
+yet the portions were chopped raggedly and tossed together
+with tepid rice in a most unappealing manner.
+
+On the parcel a note was written in Zjing's hand:
+
+     Choose and eat. //
+     At the bottom lies your answer.
+
+Wangohan devoured the contents of the box of black lacquer,
+but was puzzled to find no further note at the bottom.
+He was debating whether he was hungry enough to eat the
+contents of the second box when a sharp pain in his gut
+drove this thought (and all others) from his mind.
+
+- - -
+
+The following night, Wangohan -- still bedridden --
+received another parcel from the nun.  This he opened with some
+trepidation.
+
+Inside were four small boxes of mint tea (their original
+wax seals intact), three articles on UI design principles,
+two thumb drives with the latest AngularJS and Bootstrap
+distributions, and the following note:
+
+         This was the meal that Landhwa prepared: //
+         treacherous in the stomach, true, //
+         yet pleasing to the senses beforehand. //
+
+         While Wangohan serves honest fare //
+         that would have sustained us on a day-long march, //
+         had we but desired it.
+
+         The presentation is not part of the food, //
+         yet it is part of the meal; //
+         our introduction, our interface.
+
+         Embrace its purpose, and remember: //
+         the chef does not carve carrots into dragons, //
+         to improve their taste.
+
+
+{{*}} See cases [[#84]] and [[#120]].  Or just avoid his spice rack.

data/data/the-codeless-code/en-qi/case-147.txt

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+Number: 147
+Date: 2014-06-01
+Title: Bawan's Table
+Geekiness: 3
+Topics: caching, statics, stale data, efficiency hacks
+Names: Bawan, Yishi-Shing, Clan of Infinite Sorrows, Spider Clan, Laughing Monkey Clan, Elephant's Footprint Clan, Lost Hermitage, Drunken Serpent's Road
+Illus.0.src: parka.jpg
+Illus.0.title: The "m" is meters, right?  Not miles?
+Credits: Thanks to Brett Davis for pointing out the typo!
+
+The Temple's user support staff -- known as the
+[[Clan of Infinite Sorrows]] -- had begun receiving complaints about a
+particular Shopping Cart application.  Changes made to the
+vendor contact information were visible immediately in the
+database, yet some of the application's servers would
+continue to display the old vendor data for days.  Master
+[[Bawan]] was sent to investigate.
+
+"Bounce that server," commanded Bawan when the most recent
+complaint surfaced.  "Then have the user log in again."
+
+"Your first action is the Last Recourse of the Desperate?"
+asked the host-master [[Yishi-Shing]].
+
+"My purpose is diagnostic," replied Bawan, his arms folded.
+
+When the user reported that the information on his screen
+was now up-to-date, Bawan dove into the UI code created by the
+[[Spider Clan]], then the business layer built by the
+[[Laughing Monkey Clan]], and finally the persistence layer
+provided by the [[Elephant's Footprint Clan]].
+Eventually he summoned one of the nuns of Elephant's Footprint.
+
+"Do you know the way to the Lost Hermitage?" asked Bawan.
+
+"I have never heard of it," said the nun.
+
+"It lies high in the mountains to the North, yet was buried
+under a SNOBOL avalanche many years ago," said the master.
+"Some brothers of our order still labor there underground;
+I require their assistance.  This parchment will lead
+you to them."
+
+Bawan gave the nun an old map showing the
+location of the Hermitage.  He followed this with seven
+days' rations, a fur-lined robe, a climbing pick, and a snow
+shovel.  Then he hustled her out the door and with
+Yishi-Shing watched her recede slowly up the
+[[Drunken Serpent's Road]].
+
+"I am not certain," remarked Yishi-Shing, "but in /my/
+memory the Lost Hermitage was abandoned a few winters ago, and
+its monks relocated to a pleasant grotto at the foot of this
+very mountain."
+
+"Is that so?" asked Bawan, nonplussed.  "Well, I suppose
+that's the danger of cacheing data forever in the drawers of
+my old lookup-table.  Perhaps next time I shall print a
+fresh copy."
+
+Yishi-Shing nodded. "The error was understandable.  Paper is
+expensive, and some things do change only rarely."
+
+"It is not by accident that /rarely/ and /never/ are two
+different words," said Bawan.

data/data/the-codeless-code/en-qi/case-148.txt

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+Number: 148
+Date: 2014-06-07
+Title: Subtle Art
+Geekiness: 3
+Topics: caching, statics, stale data, efficiency hacks
+Names: Satou, Bawan
+
+When [[#147|this story]] reached the ears of the curious nun [[Satou]],
+she sought out master [[Bawan]].
+
+Satou said, "My master spoke of the Subtle Art of
+Caching, that all Temple developers should study.  What is
+this subtle art?"
+
+Bawan replied, "A thousand fresh oranges in a distant
+market; three stale ones in the bowl on my table.  What
+shall I breakfast upon this month?"
+
+Satou considered this and said, "When the bitterness of the
+fruit exceeds the bitterness of the journey, we set out with
+coin in hand."
+
+Bawan replied, "My brother keeps raisins in his bowl; my
+sister keeps uncooked fish.  How often shall we three set
+out for market?  With how many bowls, and at what time of
+day?"
+
+Satou said, "Such simple questions, yet to answer any I must
+ask more."
+
+Bawan replied, "And I may answer each of your questions
+with more of my own."
+
+Satou asked, "Is it this complexity that makes caching
+a Subtle Art?"
+
+Bawan shook his head.  "Complexity only makes it an art.  It
+is the apparent simplicity that makes it subtle.  How simple
+it is to declare a static hashtable, and yet how perilous!
+The first challenge of a Subtle Art is recognizing that it
+even exists in the first place."

data/data/the-codeless-code/en-qi/case-149.txt

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+Number: 149
+Date: 2014-06-14
+Title: The First Finger
+Geekiness: 2
+Topics: caching, stale data, experience, failure, fear
+Names: Satou, Kaimu
+
+The nun [[Satou]] found master [[Kaimu]] and said, "From wry
+master Bawan [[#148|I learned that]] caching is an iron cannon:
+seductive to touch, easy to load, difficult to aim, and
+deadly to mishandle."
+
+Kaimu replied, "Our ten fingers are flint and steel,
+and the keyboard is our fuse."
+
+The nun continued, "From unhappy master Banzen [[#121|I learned that]]
+such weapons should only be used reluctantly: after long study
+if possible, after ignominious defeat if not."
+
+Kaimu replied, "The soldier who has lost two fingers will
+not misplace the other eight so quickly.  It is his comrade
+with a full set of digits that will soonest lack a limb."
+
+The young nun shivered and said, "Thus I fear caching.  And
+having no time for careful study, I wish to avoid it and all
+tools that use it.  How can this best be done?"
+
+Kaimu replied, "Store no data: not in a file, nor a
+database, nor in the most transient of variables.  For what
+is each datum but a single frozen echo of the Unceasing
+Chorus of the Outside World?  When we chip a note from the
+ice, what proof do we have that it is still being sung
+beyond our silicon walls?  Even the most inconsequential
+User Preference should be obtained from the User directly
+whenever needed, to be certain we have divined their will."
+
+The nun arched an eyebrow.  "I sought Kaimu's help because I
+wished to avoid error.  Why does the master mock me?"
+
+Kaimu grasped her thumb and said, "You sought Kaimu's help
+because you wished to avoid losing an arm.  Yet take heart,
+soldier!  One of your two fingers is already gone."

data/data/the-codeless-code/en-qi/case-15.txt

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+Date: 2010-11-14
+Title: Immutable
+Number: 15
+Geekiness: 3
+Names: Temple of Three Stones
+Topics: immutability
+Illus.0.src: egg.png
+Illus.0.par: 2
+Illus.0.title: {Sigh}... yes, I suppose you COULD hardboil the egg...
+
+A novice was recently arrived from the [[Temple of Three Stones]]
+where only C was used.  He was new to the ways of Java, and
+soon stumbled upon the immutability of Strings.
+
+"I wish only to convert the contents of this field to mixed
+case!" he cried.  "Yet this requires the construction of a
+StringBuffer and a new String subsequently, with many
+untouched characters copied twice between them!  For what
+purpose were Strings designed thus?"
+
+A learned sister heard, and advised him: "The brass coin
+passed from hand to hand may still be exchanged on the
+morrow; not so the egg."  The novice was enlightened.
+
+Soon the novice was defining /all/ his classes to be
+immutable.  Not one property could be modified: a new
+instance had to be created with the necessary changes.
+His constructors were sometimes astonishingly large
+and complex.
+
+The Java master was told of this, and said: "Let the form of
+an egg be cast in brass, and given to the nun to breakfast
+upon."
+
+In this manner was the nun charged with correcting the novice.
+
+

data/data/the-codeless-code/en-qi/case-150.txt

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+Number: 150
+Date: 2014-06-22
+Title: Undone
+Geekiness: 1
+Names: Kaimu
+Topics: undo, state
+Tagline: In which we come undone.
+
+A monk asked master [[Kaimu]], "What is the ideal behavior
+of 'undo'?"
+
+Kaimu answered, "To undo the last significant action of the
+user, then the action before that, and so on to the
+beginning of time."
+
+The monk asked, "What about the resizing of a window?"
+
+Kaimu answered, "Ideally, that would be undone."
+
+The monk asked, "The saving of a file?"
+
+Kaimu answered, "Also undone."
+
+The monk asked, "The sending of email?"
+
+Kaimu answered, "Also undone."
+
+The monk laughed and said, "Absurd! How could anyone
+implement such behavior?"
+
+The master launched an application on this desktop.  "Here
+is an editor of my own devising, which implements the Ideal
+Undo."
+
+The monk entered a line of text. Then he deleted a word,
+resized the window, saved the file, and sent it as an email.
+When the email appeared on his phone, he hit the editor's
+Undo key four times.
+
+The monk said, "No effect."
+
+Kaimu answered, <i>"Null.</i> Time itself was reset to as it
+was immediately after you entered your line of text.  At
+which point you -- lacking all memory of the prior iteration
+-- again deleted the word, resized the window, saved the
+file, and sent the email."
+
+The monk pointed triumphantly at the master.  <i>"Null</i> to your
+/Null!/  For in the alleged second iteration I would have
+subsequently hit Undo four times, just as I did in the first
+iteration...thus creating an inescapable loop!"
+
+Kaimu folded his arms and with satisfaction answered, "The
+actions of the second iteration were not significant, since
+they were fated to occur as a consequence of resetting the
+clock; thus they are not candidates for the Ideal Undo.
+Only your four Undo key-presses in the /first/ iteration --
+the ones which /initiated/ the second iteration -- were
+significant."
+
+The monk asked, "So what became of these four Undos?"
+
+Kaimu answered, "Thanks to the four Undos in the /second/
+iteration... also undone."

data/data/the-codeless-code/en-qi/case-151.txt

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+Number: 151
+Date: 2014-06-28
+Title: The Summer Scarf
+Geekiness: 2
+Names: Yíwen, Hwídah
+Topics: sorting, efficiency, reuse, art
+Credits: Inspired in part by the <a href="http://sortvis.org">excellent "weave" sorting visualizations</a> done by <a href="http://corte.si/">Aldo Cortesi</a>.  And thanks to Sweet Tea Dorminy for pointing out the typo!
+Illus.0.src: hanging.jpg
+Illus.0.title: Appropriately, this turned out to be one of my longer yarns.
+
+Summer's first week had arrived with pleasant warm winds, so
+most of the Temple now took their meals and meditation
+outdoors.  But Yíwen the Artist, who loved open spaces,
+could not be found anywhere on the Temple grounds.  Her
+roommate, the nun Hwídah, chose to investigate.
+
+She finally found Yíwen weaving silently in one of the Temple's
+vacant rooms, a diligent spider toiling at center
+of an immense web of fine gray yarn.  Its hundreds of cords
+were being drawn from skeins scattered high and low around
+the room.  Yíwen appeared to be making a scarf from all of
+them at once.
+
+"Winter is six months away," said Hwídah.  "Explain."
+
+Yíwen strummed her hand gently across the cords.  "Each
+shade of gray maps to a distinct whole number, in order of
+value.  For zero I have chosen a color named 'The Blackness
+Before Time'. Thirty-one is 'Charcoal Smudge', sixty-three
+is 'Looming Thunderhead', and so on, lighter and lighter, to
+two-hundred-fifty-five: 'Celestial Cloud White'.
+
+"An impressive palette for such a modest seasonal
+accessory," said Hwídah.
+
+Yíwen held up the scarf in her lap.  "This is no mere
+garment.  The pattern represents the evolving states of an
+array of numbers as they are sorted.  Each row represents
+one step in the process, with its columns depicting the
+numbers themselves.  See: at this end the gray
+cords are in a salt-and-pepper jumble, but with each row
+they grow progressively more orderly as the algorithm tells
+me which cords to swap.  The final row's columns will run
+smoothly from black to white."
+
+"Yet I also see one thin glittering gold thread, and another
+like ruby" said Hwídah.
+
+Yíwen indicated a portion of the scarf with her fingernail.
+"If the current step compares two elements, I place
+knots of gold around the corresponding cords.  If it selects
+a pivot value, I embellish that cord with ruby.  Thus the scarf
+will have exactly as many rows as the sorting algorithm has
+operations, and the aesthetics of the algorithm will be
+revealed to the eye."
+
+"You are still seeking [[#132|beauty in code]]," said
+Hwídah.
+
+"A thousand pardons, Hwídah, but that is not my sole
+purpose," said Yíwen.  "Are you, I wonder, familiar with the
+novice monk recently brought onto my team?  His first task
+was to ensure that a result set was ordered for display.
+Yet he was ignorant of the built-in sorting utility,
+so he implemented his own."
+
+"A most unfortunate waste of time," said Hwídah.
+
+"Your words are surprisingly apropos," said Yíwen.  "For he chose
+<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubblesort">Bubblesort</a>,
+as we discovered in production when the application was given a
+very large result set and took several minutes to render the page."
+
+"You appear to be using Bubblesort as the basis for your
+pattern," said Hwídah, squinting at the finished rows.
+
+"Indeed!" said Yíwen.  "I have already completed a scarf using the built-in
+<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timsort">Timsort</a> algorithm.
+It is about one-fourth of a meter wide by two meters long,
+and I will enjoy wearing it.  This Bubblesort scarf is a gift
+for the monk.  It will have the same width, but it will
+be somewhat more... ungainly."
+
+"It will be sixty-four meters long!" exclaimed Hwídah.
+
+"Now you understand why I must begin in June," said
+Yíwen.  "As you observed, winter is only six months away."
+
+"And what will happen if the monk refuses to wear your
+generous gift?" asked Hwídah.
+
+"The same as if he fails to correct his ignorance," said Yíwen.
+She rolled the scarf into a thin tube and yanked the ends
+to show its strength.  "Sixty-four meters makes for a
+clumsy scarf, but an excellent noose."