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The operations log or OpLog is a new Eve feature that I’m currently developing on the oplog experimental branch. It’s supposed to help in addressing a subtle issue that we’ve been dealing with, but I believe it can also emerge as a very useful all-around tool. I am posting about it in the hope of gathering some feedback from Eve contributors and users, so that I can better pinpoint design and implementation before I merge it to the main development branch. What is the OpLog? The OpLog is a special resource that keeps a record of operations that modify the data stored by the API. Every POST, PATCH, PUT and DELETE operation can eventually be recorded by the oplog. At its core the oplog is simply a server log, something that’s always been on the Eve roadmap. What makes it a little bit different is its ability to be exposed as a read-only API endpoint. This would in turn allow clients to query it as they would with any other standard endpoint. ...

OrderedDict is a super handy data structure. An OrderedDict is a dict that remembers the order that keys were first inserted. If a new entry overwrites an existing entry, the original insertion position is left unchanged. Deleting an entry and reinserting it will move it to the end. Problem is, this stuff is only available in the standard library since Python 2.7 while my project also needs to support Python 2.6. Fortunately there’s a back-port available and it is only a pip install away: # make OrderedDict available on Python 2.6-2.4 $ pip install ordereddict ordereddict is based on the awesome recipe by Raymond Hettinger, works with Python 2.4-2.6 and, most importantly, is a drop-in replacement for OrderedDict. However if you want your code to run seamlessly on all Pythons there’s still some work to be done. First of all you want to make sure that the appropriate OrderedDict is imported, either the standard library version (for Python 2.7 and above) or the back-port release. ...

If your project is a Portable Class Library and you want it to run with the .NET Framework 4 well, you are in for a few surprises. Especially so if you are using InstallShield for building your deployment package. We’ve been going through this a few days ago and it’s been kind of a wild ride. I thought I could pin the whole thing down so that others might enjoy a painless journey through all this mess. Portable Class Libraries and .NET Framework 4 The first thing you should know is that while the .NET Framework 4 does support PCLs, in fact it won’t run them without a patch. For whatever reason, Microsoft decided that PCL compatibility wasn’t a worth a 4.0.4 update. That leaves us with the need to not only make sure that target machines are running the up-to-date .NET4 release (v4.0.3) but also that they’ve been updated with KB2468871. You might be wondering why this is an issue in the first place. We could simply install the .NET Framework 4.5 which is backward compatible with the .NET4 and includes the afore mentioned KB2468871. Even better, we could just target the .NET 4.5 on our PCL. Problem is that besides iOS, Android, WinPhone and Silverlight we also want our libraries to run seamlessly on as many Windows editions as possible, Windows XP included. Here is the catch: .NET4 is the last framework version to run on Windows XP. And yes, we got the memo, Microsoft officially abandoned Windows XP a while ago so why bother? Well it turns out that millions of users are still running XP, especially so in the enterprise and SMB. These PCL are targeting exactly that, precisely the accounting software segment, and believe me there’s a huge number of users happily invoicing and accounting on their old-fart-but-still-splendidly-doing-its-job-for-cheap boxes. Oh and the .NET Framework 3.5 is not an option as it doesn’t support Portable Classes at all. ...

Eve 0.4 adds cool features like Document Versioning and Coherence Mode. Cerberus 0.7 allows regex validation amongst other niceties. Make sure to check the official v0.4 announcement for all the details.

When Ballmer famously said, “Linux is a cancer that attaches itself in an intellectual property sense to everything it touches,” it was fair to characterize Microsoft’s approach to open source as hostile. But over time, forces within Microsoft pushed to change this attitude. Many groups inside of Microsoft continue to see the customer and business value in fostering, rather than fighting, OSS. via Microsoft’s New Running Shoes.

git is a fantastic choice for tracking the evolution of your code base and to collaborate efficiently with your peers. But what happens when the repository you want to track is really huge? via How to handle big repositories with git – Atlassian Blogs.

Python’s simple, easy-to-learn syntax can mislead Python developers – especially those who are newer to the language – into missing some of its subtleties and underestimating the power of the language. With that in mind, this article presents a “top 10” list of somewhat subtle, harder-to-catch mistakes that can bite even the most advanced Python developer in the rear. via 10 Most Common Python Mistakes.

Software development is mostly horseshit. We’re busy trying to build things, trying to estimate when things are done, trying to work with other humans to make sure you don’t break anything when you launch. All of these things can go horribly, horribly wrong without much malice or without much intention. It’s still very difficult. via Why doesn’t GitHub talk about their product roadmap?

But here’s the rub. Programming, like writing, painting, and music, is chiefly a creative endeavor not a technical one. Practice with any technology or language is useful as a means of learning tools and techniques, but it will not make you a substantially better programmer. via How to be a sane programmer

It’s been a very long time since I judged any programmer based on their commit history and I believe if you think you can judge a programmer’s ability by reading his/her code YOU ARE WRONG. via Never judge a programmer by their commit history