More on recursive descent

My program to parse that complicated set of measurement data is slowly progressing. It teaches myself a lot about the nature of recursion, the Backus-Naur-Form (BNF) and how to make a parse tree. On a side-note recursion teaches to break a cyclical structure into a short description, on each level of the description something is added (or removed depending on the direction) and the description gets more abstract. Of course with every abstraction layer where parts of a description are removed we lose information but that information can be re-constructed from the parse tree.

recursion

our brain is certainly able to do recursion. i am just realizing this fascinating concept in sequenntial abstractions, by wondering how to parse a complicated logfile for some weeks already. parsing assumes to build an abstract structure that gives an overview or a map of the structures below. Parsing is about selecting, organizing and modifying pieces of code or data. the abstract structure needed by parser is a tree. a tree can have branches or leaves (the branches can be seen as smaller trees which shows again the usefulness of the concept of recursion)

the future of computing

Cloud Computing: Navigating the next frontier

"The cloud is a metaphor for the Internet (based on how it is depicted in computer network diagrams) and is an abstraction for the complex infrastructure it conceals.[1] It is a style of computing in which IT-related capabilities are provided “as a service”,[2] allowing users to access technology-enabled services from the Internet ("in the cloud")[3] without knowledge of, expertise with, or control over the technology infrastructure that supports them." (C) Wikipedia

see also a video here:
Google Talks

PS more of Google talks:



"You can learn to like problems, like you can learn to like ice cream." (= also separation between problems and interpretation of problems, advanced Eastern psychology....)

patterns in software

interesting interview with Kent Beck

Inventing computers

Interesting views on what makes computers tick are described in Woz biography on how he invented the Apple computer, the first personal computer, or home computer. I find important on how he was able to think about signals, components that process signals, and software as flexible ways of combining components. Also, one of the breakthroughs that made computers possible was the invention of dynamic memories. On wikipedia and google picture search, it is possible to see some of Woz' hand written tables on 0's and 1's and pictures on what components need to be combined to get some magical effects.

Furthermore an interesting list of readings on how computer concepts shape our ways of how we perceive the world around us:

science, computers, reading list