Author Archives: Lex

Best WAMP for Web Development (2013 Edition)

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Lex

I just wanted to put out there one guy’s opinion on the best WAMP package in 2013. I’ve had the chance to use all of the following, and here’s my rating from best (1) to worst (5). I should say first thought … Continue reading →

Posted in Programming, Tools, Web Development | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Convert String to Qt Keycode in C++

Posted on December 25, 2012 by Lex

I came across the need to convert a string representing a key on the keyboard to a keycode enum like Qt::Key (or anything else). Example conversions would be: As you see the above includes not just alpha-numeric keys but modifiers and … Continue reading →

Posted in Programming | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

When an Integer and a Floating Point Number Meet in C++

Posted on December 1, 2012 by Lex

First, if you don’t know what a floating point number is, or don’t know that it can be a minefield for programmers that work with numbers, please read What Every Computer Scientist Should Know About Floating-Point Arithmetic. In C++, there are … Continue reading →

Posted in Programming | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Future of Qt

Posted on August 9, 2012 by Lex

There must be a million articles written with the title “The Future of Qt”. Qt (pronounced “cute” by everyone except me) is a cross-platform framework for developing applications with a strong graphical component (or not). Qt uses C++ but extends … Continue reading →

Posted in Misc | Leave a comment

Some Tips on How to Use Google Search

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Lex

Here are some tips that I often use in searching for information on Google, and after talking to my dad a month or so ago, I realized that these are not obvious things, but they do make my life a … Continue reading →

Posted in Tools, Web Development | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Include Full BibTeX Entry Inside Text

Posted on January 28, 2012 by Lex

This isn’t rocket science, but you can insert BibTeX entries as you go, instead of (dumping all the references at the end in a “References” section. It’s useful when writing many chaotic pages of notes as you crawl through dozens … Continue reading →

Posted in Programming | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Backward Compatibility in C++ Libraries

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Lex

Backward compatibility is an important design goal of a software system that says that a new version of the software should play nice with the old version. As an example, Microsoft Windows has done a remarkably good job (in my opinion) … Continue reading →

Posted in Programming | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

WampServer vs XAMPP

Posted on September 11, 2011 by Lex

This is not an Earth shattering post. Moreover, it’s not an objective one, that is, it is based on my experience and my experience only. WAMP is a bundle of Apache, MySql, and PHP (though often also Perl and/or Python) … Continue reading →

Posted in Tools, Web Development, Windows | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Sorting a Sorted List in C++

Posted on July 4, 2011 by Lex

It came to my attention that I didn’t know how well STL sorting algorithms performed on a vector of values that are already sorted. One would hope it would be close to $latex O(n)$. This page does a comparison of … Continue reading →

Posted in Programming | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Auto Save Files in Emacs

Posted on June 26, 2011 by Lex

I’m resolving to make more frequent and regular posts on this “research” blog that’s so far has been just a place where I write down some basic tips and tricks that have to do with tools I use in programming … Continue reading →

Posted in Tools | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments