You can use files to communicate between two processes, but pipes are a much better solution. Find out how they work in this  extract from my book on using C in an IoT context.

Bitcoin is a currency that exists entirely in software and is under the control of no central authority. What is really important about Bitcoin, however, are the algorithms that make it all work. We explain the way the Block Chain works. 

For the second year in a row and the fifth time ever Python has the status of being TIOBE's Language of the Year by TIOBE. 2021 was a good year for Python vis-a-vis TIOBE as it achieved the status of the top ranking language on the TIOBE Index back in October 2021. 

Class Central Cohorts describes itself as "social learning for Open Courses". This means you don't have to undertake an online course in isolation - instead you can join in with other learners. Two new Bootcamps from freeCodeCamp are about to start with this support. 

Microsoft has released an open-source library for creating massively scalable machine learning (ML) pipelines. SynapseML was until now known as MMLSpark, and it unifies several existing ML frameworks and new Microsoft algorithms in a single, scalable API that’s usable across Python, R, Scala, and Java.

Ruby 3.1 has been released with improvements including an experimental in-process just in time compiler and a new debugger.

Two new, upgraded, Astro Pi units were launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on December 21st, 2021 and arrived the following day at the International Space Station, ready to perform experiments coded by school students as part of the challenge set by the European Space Agency and Raspberry Pi Foundation.

Too Good To Miss: In October we looked at a less obvious way that AI was influencing art. Can it really create lost works from what remains of it?

Too Good To Miss: Back in August 2021 Boston Dynamics made the best roboto video of the year. The only question that remains is will they make the best commercial robot any time soon?

What sort of clock are you watching to herald in the New Year? One of the deep seams of the DIY hardware is the custom clock. None of these projects is essential, but you probably will end up wanting one.

Too Good To Miss: Seeing in the New Year in Scotland's capital city, Edinburgh. is usually a really big thing, shared on television by millions worldwide. This year's event has been cancelled due to Coronavirus restrictions, but we can still enjoy last year's drone display.

Too Good To Miss: Back in June 2021 we looked at a way to make a photo more than a photo and not just inside your head. Looking at the photo of a waterfall you are often convinced the water is moving.

GitHub has announced that developers can now get precise code navigation in pull requests and specifically in Python code.