Hitchhiker’s Guide to Python
Howdoi is a code search tool that has been used by countless developers, hacker schools, and students to help with common coding tasks. It was a pleasure to write and has dozens of contributors to the codebase on Github.
Recently howdoi was featured in Kenneth Reitz’s Hitchhiker’s Guide to Python published by O’Reilly. There is a section on writing great code that recommends reading others’ work to learn how to craft better code. I’m honored howdoi was chosen as an exemplary project.
A Brave New Post-Open Source World
Understanding the history and artistry of algorithms reveals an interesting vantage point from which to explore the importance and implications of software systems and their associated movements.
Nadia Eghbal has penned a brief yet engaging history of open source and offers a glimpse into the future of what she calls the “Post-Open Source World.” The details reveal a captivating, frothy battle where tyrannical choices alter the adoption and success of budding technologies. A brave new world indeed.
Open Files on Github from Emacs
In the course of a project it helps to share pointers to specific files and lines of code with others. I use Github for this task, sharing URLs like: https://github.com/gleitz/howdoi/blob/master/howdoi/howdoi.py#L156
When sharing URLs from a project with deep directories (Scala/Java) it can be a real pain to open github.com, pick a branch, and then click through src/com/blah/blah folders until you find the file. Instead, use this command-line Python script to generate a Github URL directly from a file or directory. Also included is an elisp function to generate URLs from Emacs.
