Articles by David Bolton

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  Exploring Intel's Distribution for Python

  For years, Intel has focused on two programming languages: C++ and Fortran. Now they have released a third language implementation: Python. The release includes a number of packages used in high-…
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  A Look Inside Windows Containers

  Containers are a clever idea that originated in the Linux arena around 16 years ago. They gained traction at a very slow pace until three years ago, when an open-source project called Docker came…
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  A Case Study in Dealing with Ransomware

  A particularly insidious type of malware is ransomware, which is secretly installed on your PC and locks the system down. That lockdown is inevitably accompanied by a message demanding payment if…
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  Learning About Data Structures in Swift

  Swift is an increasingly popular language for programming iOS devices, supported on Linux in addition to Mac OS X. A few months ago, Apple decided to make Swift open-source; the language’s next m…
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  Python Developers: PyPI Makes Life Easier

  Python’s major strength lies in its ecosystem. There’s the community, the quality of documentation, the PEPs (Python Enhancement Proposals, or white papers that suggest improvements), and PyPI, o…
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  The State of Linux in 2016

  As side projects go, few have succeeded quite as spectacularly as Linus Torvald’s attempt to create a new, free operating system. In 1991, he termed his project kernel “Freax,” a name soon eclips…
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  How Does Visual Studio Code for Linux Work?

  As names go, Visual Studio Code (VSC) is perhaps a little misleading. Visual Studio is a cross-platform integrated development environment (IDE) produced by Microsoft, a company not exactly known…
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  Using Frameworks to Simplify JavaScript

  Have you ever gone to a restaurant and had trouble selecting a dish because there were too many to choose from? The word for this is “overchoice,” and it’s how I feel about the various JavaScript…
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  Web Development in Python and web2py

  PHP is the traditional server language for developing Websites. It’s free and ubiquitous, undergirding hundreds of open-source applications such as WordPress and Drupal. Getting started is very e…
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  Why It's Worth Learning the R Language

  If you’re a developer, chances are good you’ve heard about the programming language R, used for statistical computing and graphics. Although nowhere near as ubiquitous (or popular) as programming…