Topics Everyone Is Talking About No148

🧩 From Imperative Thinking to Relational Mindset
A thoughtful read for engineers seeking to deepen their SQL and database design intuition, bridging foundational computer science with practical relational modeling lessons.
This essay explores the fundamental shift from imperative programming—focused on loops and variable manipulation—to relational thinking based on set logic. It highlights common pitfalls such as overusing JSON columns or creating per-user tables, and demonstrates how relational design improves scalability and maintainability. The piece offers conceptual and practical exercises to help developers internalize this change in mindset.
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⚙️ Handling 16-bit Data Pointers on RV32
A technically rich resource for low-level developers and embedded engineers dealing with RISC-V architecture quirks and custom linker behavior.
The article explores how to implement 16-bit relocations in RISC-V (RV32) assembly, which are unsupported by default in GNU and LLVM toolchains. It demonstrates a workaround using additive and subtractive relocations (R_RISCV_ADD16 and R_RISCV_SUB16) and linker script adjustments to define reference symbols.
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🐍 Boosting Python’s JIT: 5–10% Faster by Version 3.16
An exciting glimpse into Python’s performance evolution—melding compiler innovation with community-driven development to make the language faster and more concurrent.
Python’s core team outlines a plan to accelerate CPython’s JIT by up to 10% through LLVM 21 profiling, improved trace recording, smarter register allocation, and reduced reference counting. These updates also advance free-threading capabilities, paving the way for more efficient multi-threaded performance in upcoming Python versions.
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📜 The Digital Archive of Edsger W. Dijkstra
A remarkable resource preserving the intellectual heritage of one of computer science’s greatest minds—indispensable for researchers and educators alike.
The E.W. Dijkstra Archive hosts more than a thousand manuscripts, letters, and notes by the pioneering computer scientist. It offers searchable indexes, translations, and biographical materials, documenting Dijkstra’s profound influence on algorithms, programming theory, and formal reasoning. The collection continues to expand with academic contributions.
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💖 Python Foundation Gains Support After Declining Federal Grant
A testament to the resilience and ethics of the open-source community, turning a financial challenge into a moment of collective empowerment.
The Python Software Foundation rejected a $1.5 million federal grant due to restrictions on diversity and inclusion efforts, prompting a surge of community donations exceeding $157,000. The PSF remains dedicated to open, equitable governance while pursuing alternative funding to strengthen the Python ecosystem.
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