JavaScript should not be judged as if it was a poor version of the other popular languages - it isn't a Java or a C++ clone. It does things its own way.  In particular its functions are objects and this is often missed. This is an extract from JavaScript Jems: The Amazing Parts.

Sometimes simple algorithms are just wrong. In this case shuffling an array looks like a foolproof task, but the obvious doesn't always work and the correct algorithm is just a tiny change away. Find out about why it doesn't work and the correct way to shuffle.

Are there magic prompts that make LLMs disgorge the results that you want? New research suggests that there are and they are short.

A report from Chainguard reveals that while software developers and security leaders are committed to tackling software supply chain security, differences in their perspectives and priorities can cause tension.

Apache has released version 1 of Pekko, an open source toolkit and runtime simplifying the construction of concurrent and distributed applications on the JVM. Pekko is a fork of Akka and has come about because Akka has moved from being Apache licensed to being licensed under a Business Software License.

Visual Studio Code has been updated with the addition of more audio cues, and improvements to the Python extension.

Despite the project going back to 2009, the just announced release is 1.0.0. Let's look at this milestone release, adopting a retrospective attitude. Of course, we are talking about Dancer2 , the new generation of Dancer as a complete rewrite of Dancer1 based on Moo.

SQLite 3.44 has been released with new C-language APIs and extensions to aggregate functions.

UK-based Collins Dictionary has named "AI" as its word of the year for 2023, explaining that usage of "AI" meaning Artificial Intelligence has quadrupled over the previous twelve months.

As LLMs like ChatGPT rapidly improve their ability to generate text similar to human-written content, educators have very real concerns about how to distinguish between students own work and that generated with undue help from artificial intelligence. A Kaggle contest has just launched to detect whether an essay was written by a student or an LLM.

Google has announced that it has opened submissions for the Indie Games Accelerator 2024, a 10-week accelerator program for high potential indie game studios, designed to help programmers build a successful games company.

JetBrains has released the stable version of Kotlin Multiplatform, a technology for sharing code among iOS, Android, desktop, web, server-side, and other platforms.

Next.js 14 has been released with a new turbopack and stable server actions. The updated version was announced at the annual Next.js Conf, where the team described Next.js 14 as their most focused release.

Authors: Karl Wiegers and Candase Hokanson
Publisher: Addison-Wesley
Pages: 208
ISBN: 9780138190286
Audience: General
Rating: 4.5
Reviewer: Kay Ewbank

This slim book looks at how to work out the requirements for a software project through twenty 'practices' that you can use to understand that the problem is, find the right people for your team, communicate effectively, and develop the features of your project in the best order.

This book will teach you all you need to know to be immediately productive with MySQL 8. Ben Forta provides 30 highly focused hands-on lessons.

This book is a comprehensive introduction to the language, making it accessible even if you’re new to programming. Lee Phillips dives in with a thorough guide to Julia’s syntax, data types, and best practices, then moves on to craft solutions for challenges in physics, statistics, biology, mathematics, and scientific machine learning. Whether you’re solving computational problems, visualizing data, writing simulations, or developing specialized tools, this book will show you how.

Aimed at hobbyists and business people interested in 3D printing, this is a quick-start guide to desktop manufacturing. Richard Horne takes a tour of the latest devices and resources and shows how to streamline and configure your 3D printing workflow for maximum efficiency. It’s also a handy guide for more experienced users looking to learn the latest and greatest in additive manufacturing. Updated for the latest generation of machines and materials, this book walks you through creating models and printing 3D objects.