Input is never simple, but this is about as simple as it gets. This is an extract from a recent book in the I Programmer Library, all about the Pico/W in C.

The accepted wisdom is that late binding is complicated and advanced. Not necesarily. Read on to find out how it’s easy in C# and how this illuminates what is going on in other languages.

Rust is making spectacular progress up the TIOBE index and JavaScript is also on the up and experiencing a personal best. Kotlin is maintaining its inclusion in the top 20 and the gap at the very top between Python and the other dominant languages is at its widest ever.

Are we worried about AI code assistants? Well some of us were worried and offended enough to take GitHub/Microsoft/Open AI to court over code copying by GitHub Copilot. But the judge came down on the side of the AI. Why?

Are you sick of the math associated with cryptography?
You don't have to be any more. Applied Cryptography from the University of Tartu shows cryptography without the math! At last, a hands-on tutorial that teaches developers how to utilize cryptography in an easy-to-comprehend and down-to-earth way.

Apache NiFi 2, a project for processing and distributing data, has been released with support for Python processors in the MiNiFi framework, and a completely rebuilt user interface.

Pg_Lakehouse from ParadeDB is an extension that turns PostgreSQL into the analytical engine of DuckDB. Why is that useful? How do you use it?

Google has announced a range of improvements to Gemini, along with the release of Gemma 2. The first enhancement is access to a 2 million context window for Gemini 1.5 Pro, backed up with context caching to reduce overheads. Support for code execution capabilities in the Gemini API were also announced, along with the addition of Gemma 2 in Google AI Studio.

The iconic 3D mechanical puzzle, Rubik's Cube, was invented in 1974 and celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. As well as being a popular puzzle that anyone can try to solve, it touches on some interesting mathematical concepts and challenges computer scientists to creating efficient search algorithms.

Bruce Bastian, co-creator of WordPerfect, has died aged 76. Bastion created the word processing software as a graduate student at Brigham Young University, together with Alan Ashton, his computer science professor.

Udacity has refreshed its iOS Developer Nanodegree Program. The latest version, iOS Development with SwiftUI and SwiftData is intended to take 5 months.

Fluid Framework 2, Microsoft's development platform for collaborative ways to work with documents, is now production ready, according to Microsoft.

JetBrains has released Qodana Self-Hosted, a version of its code quality platform that can now be managed and maintained by the customer on their infrastructure.

Author: Loren Klingman and Ashley Parker
Publisher: Big Nerd Ranch Guides
Date: April 2023
ISBN:978-0137901760
Audience: Front end devs
Rating: 4
Reviewer: Ian Elliot
React is difficult to master, so a book can really help.

In this book Anders Schau Knatten explores some of C++'s most interesting quirks through 25 puzzles, from the useful to the outright weird. How does initialization actually work? Do temporaries even exist? Why is +!!""  a valid expression in C++? As he works through each puzzle, he peels off some of the layers of complexity of C++, providing a fundamental understanding of how the language works.

This book looks at how to use R for everything from workload automation and creating online reports, to interpreting data to map making. Written by David Keyes, founder of a popular online training platform for R, the book offers a simple way in for users who just want to automate repetitive tasks or visualize data, without the need for complex math.

The World of Warcraft Diary offers an unfiltered look inside the gaming industry. It was written by the game's first level designer, John Staats, from notes he took during WoW's creation. The book explains why developers do things and debunks popular myths about the games industry. In great detail it covers what it took to finish the project; the surprises, the arguments, the mistakes, and Blizzard's formula for success.