Code

Functional programming and the joy of learning something again

January 8, 2013January 8, 2013 Chris Cannam5 Comments

Twenty years ago, as a maths-and-computing undergraduate at the university of Bath, I was introduced to functional programming using the ML language by the excellent Julian Padget. We undergrads were set the traditional assignment of writing a sed-like text processor in ML, and found it first baffling and then, if we were lucky, rather exciting.… Continue reading Functional programming and the joy of learning something again

Code

How Much Legacy Code Have You Written This Week?

September 20, 2012September 20, 2012 Chris Cannam1 Comment

I recently bought a copy (based on a recommendation) of Michael Feathers’ 2005 book Working Effectively with Legacy Code. This excellent technical book is largely a compendium of refactoring strategies to help software developers insinuate unit tests into existing code. What I found most striking, though, is a position stated right at the start of… Continue reading How Much Legacy Code Have You Written This Week?

Bits and Bobs

A batch-processing system replies

August 31, 2012August 31, 2012 Chris Cannam

In response to "Ode to a Preemptive Multitasking Kernel" I do things right, that's what I say. I take a thing: I let it run: It finishes, then off it goes. I take the next thing when it's done. My advantages are clear to see: Clarity, sureness, crispness, ease. I march on, forge ahead, in my… Continue reading A batch-processing system replies

Code · Things that Are Gone

Hyvästi, Sibelius

July 6, 2012July 6, 2012 Chris Cannam1 Comment

This week saw the sad news that the UK office responsible for development of the music score-writing software Sibelius is to be closed down. Maintenance of the software will be moved elsewhere, at least according to its owners Avid, the former video-editing software company that expanded madly throughout the professional audio and video world during the 2000s and… Continue reading Hyvästi, Sibelius

Academics · Code

SoundSoftware 2012 Workshop

June 19, 2012June 19, 2012 Chris Cannam1 Comment

Yesterday the SoundSoftware project, which I help to run, hosted the SoundSoftware 2012 Workshop at Queen Mary. This was a one-day workshop about working practices for researchers developing software and experiences they have had in software work, with an eye to subjects of interest to audio and music researchers. You can read about the workshop… Continue reading SoundSoftware 2012 Workshop

America · Code

“Various nifty functions”

June 1, 2012June 1, 2012 Chris Cannam

Further to the code-literate judge in Oracle v Google, via Groklaw we now have his ruling that the Java APIs are not copyrightable. It's an exceptionally clear piece of work and a good introduction to the subject. I certainly couldn't have written a better technical summary, although I'm sure there are bits that a non-programmer… Continue reading “Various nifty functions”