Which of those would you like me to write?

March 23rd, 2012

"You have 59 posts and 103 drafts", says WordPress, and I guess it's right. SELECT COUNT() FROM table" doesn't lie, and then I've always had about 2 unpublished drafts per published post.

Let's try this: I'll give you this list of drafts and you'll tell me which of these you want me to write. I have a bunch, they're all fresh enough for me to still want to write them – I still remember what I meant to say – but help me prioritize.

So, here goes:

There's more but let's see what about these.

1. RRRMar 23, 2012

Top 2 preferences:
1. FPGAs vs cellular automata
2. Mircoarchitecture vs macroarchitecture

2. Andrew JennerMar 23, 2012

I'd like to see the first two as well – they're things I've thought about in the past and I'm interested to see what your take on them is.

3. Frank AdrianMar 23, 2012

In order...

1. Microarchitecture vs. macroarchitecture
2. "Don't just blame the author of this manual"
3. Efficiency: Shortcuts and highways
4. Make your code serial and your data scalar

4. SergeyMar 23, 2012

+1 for "Leibnitz management" and another for "buying code..".

WRT "simple" rules, I think about similar matters in terms of adding strong invariants — if checkins are conditional on tests passing, then the passing test are an invariant. A related direction in programming would be avoiding inheritance or any other kind of type dispatching. Or having a rule of only putting locks in variables / attrs that have 'lock' in their name and 'evt' for events, so you can find all locks and events in the program with a simple text search.

Setting up voting on Google Moderator could be a good option too.

5. MarshallMar 23, 2012

1) Microarchitecture vs macroarchitecture.

2) Make your code serial and your data scalar.

3) Correctness and testing.

Thank you very much, by the way, both for your great writing and your willingness to please!

6. Dirkjan OchtmanMar 23, 2012

1. Buy vs build
2. Simple rules

7. NathanMar 23, 2012

microarchitecture vs macroarchitecture
buy vs build

8. jonathanMar 23, 2012

1. Mircoarchitecture vs macroarchitecture

2. Buying code takes more knowledge then building it – I like real life examples.

3. Make your code serial and your data scalar – Mainly because I don't understand your description, and that makes me curious.

9. Ancorehraq sisMar 23, 2012

FPGAs vs cellular automata for informativeness
Leibnitz management for sheer spite

10. PSOMar 23, 2012

* “Don’t just blame the author of this manual”
* Buying code takes more knowledge then building it
* “No rules” is a rule, and not a simple one

11. TolomeaMar 23, 2012

All of the above :P

Probably "Make your code serial and your data scalar" the most.

12. saurabhMar 23, 2012

first two over the rest

13. PawelMar 23, 2012

Really curious about the FPGAs.

14. Aristotle PagaltzisMar 23, 2012

I will read all of them. But these are the ones I am specifically interested in – in this order:

Make your code serial and your data scalar
Efficiency: shortcuts and highways
Mircoarchitecture vs macroarchitecture
“Don’t just blame the author of this manual”
Leibnitz management
FPGAs vs cellular automata

15. gus3Mar 23, 2012

No rules vs. simple rules. It's the only description I read all the way through, so that shows you how much it held my interest. :)

16. Yura BronnikovMar 23, 2012

1. Simple rules.
2. Serial code, scalar data.
3. Leibniz (no t).
4. Micro vs macro.

17. Z.T.Mar 23, 2012

I would like to read all of them. I especially want to read stories about ways things fail in your experience (re: testing, haskell, buying code, etc.)

18. Yossi KreininMar 24, 2012

Thanks for your responses, and in particular, it's nice to know that hardware is a popular topic (though I always wonder whether my writing about that stuff gets too detailed or instead too incomprehensible, because I never know what is obvious and widely known and what is obscure in these areas.)

19. Tony FinchMar 24, 2012

Blame the manual: is this an argument for there being a decent amount of explanatory rationale in a spec?

No rules vs simple rules: this is just the liberal dilemma, balancing rights and responsibilities, fairness and freedom.

Buying vs building and serial + scalar sound interesting.

20. Leandro LucarellaMar 24, 2012

Efficiency: shortcuts and highways
“Don’t just blame the author of this manual”
“No rules” is a rule, and not a simple one

21. Stephen SchulzeMar 24, 2012

I am especially curious about
1. Mircoarchitecture vs macroarchitecture.
2. Make your code serial and your data scalar
because the first is a thing I am always musing about, and the second because I wonder if you actually mean "obfuscated", i.e. implicit, structure and what you would do about it.

But I will surely read any of the proposed articles.

22. AndreaMar 24, 2012

I second Marshall's choice.

To encourage you I shall confess I have found your blog a must-read for undergrad students, having been one myself.

23. Jari MustonenMar 24, 2012

I would really like to hear your argument for serial code and scalar data.

24. DanMar 24, 2012

Someone I respect very much once said, "You can't test quality into a product."

Therefore, I vote for "Does correctness result from design or testing?"

My bias might be showing. I'm curious what your position is (I would love it if you took a hard stand in one camp or the other, regardless of which one. Guarantee you'll get strong opinions on both sides, watch out reddit.)

25. AssafMar 25, 2012

Buying vs. Building code is a real conundrum. Would like to read your thoughts about it.

26. ssshhshMar 25, 2012

micro vs macro sounds very good

27. mahtMar 26, 2012

1. FPGAs vs cellular automata
2. Mircoarchitecture vs macroarchitecture

"I always wonder whether my writing about that stuff gets too detailed or instead too incomprehensible, because I never know what is obvious and widely known and what is obscure in these areas."

Another example of where does one erect barriers, in this case to detail or you might end up explaining how a transistor works.

28. el MÄ«koMar 26, 2012

+1 for "Make your code serial and your data scalar"

29. jaredehMar 27, 2012

code serial and data scalar please

30. DavidMar 29, 2012

FPGAs vs cellular automata
Mircoarchitecture vs macroarchitecture
Make your code serial and your data scalar

31. JMar 29, 2012

Design v. Testing sounds interesting, although I think I'm outvoted here.

32. IlyaMar 29, 2012

My top three:

1) "Don’t just blame the author of this manual"
2) “No rules” is a rule, and not a simple one
3) Buying code takes more knowledge then building it

33. timMar 30, 2012

1) Make your code serial and your data scalar
2) “Don’t just blame the author of this manual”
...but I too would read any of them

34. gildMar 31, 2012

1) Micro vs. Macro
2) Make your code serial and your data scalar

35. DmitriApr 4, 2012

Serial code, scalar data.

36. tromboneApr 23, 2012

I really like reading your blog and would happily read all of these. Giving a priority to the list of options, it would be approximately:

1) Testing is parallelizable, analysis isn’t.
2) Does correctness result from design or testing?
3) Make your code serial and your data scalar.
4) Efficiency: shortcuts and highways
5) Mircoarchitecture vs macroarchitecture.
6) “No rules” is a rule, and not a simple one.
7) FPGAs vs cellular automata.
8) “Don’t just blame the author of this manual”.
9) Buying code takes more knowledge then building it.
10) Leibnitz management.

Thanks for all the hard work!

37. DanApr 24, 2012

Buy vs. Build
Correctness from design or testing

38. MeApr 26, 2012

1. Buying code takes more knowledge then building it
2. Testing is parallelizable, analysis isn’t

39. Yossi KreininApr 27, 2012

Thanks again for your votes; I'm currently working on macro vs micro which seems very popular – it's coming out long, I might split it into parts perhaps.

40. 10098May 8, 2012

Make your code serial and your data scalar, please!

41. EvanMay 9, 2012

A late vote for: "Make your code serial and your data scalar."

Perhaps after macro vs. micro?

42. Nick ZivkovicMay 11, 2012

Another late vote:

In case you decide to complete another draft, I'd love to see "Efficiency: shortcuts and highways"

43. stipanMay 21, 2012

I am dying to know what serial code is and how to pack everything in scalar data.



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