Ctrl+Z

autoSearch, Page 2

msucshot — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 05:24:54 +0000

Well, it’s been a bit since I’ve gotten a post in here, and a good bit has happened since then. I had a GUI designed for the autoSearch project, with a good idea of how it was going to work, and even the beginnings of the code to run everything. The plan was to use Perl’s regular expression engine to parse the search results out of the page source, thus retrieving the data I needed. Then a suggestion was made to me by one of my professors: instead of drawing the raw HTML out of a page of search results, why not try to use Google’s AJAX search API? So now I live with Notepad++ in one slot of my taskbar and the API documentation and class definition in another. Now, if I can get the head of my research project to stop adding requirements, I’ll be doing well.

I’ll try to get a review and short tutorial up for the Google’s API at some point.

–MM Hacker

autoSearch, Page 1

msucshot — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 01:27:44 +0000

And here. We. Go. So begins the development diary for my CSC 530 semester project, working project name of autoSearch. As a quick summary:

Purpose – automation of the process of searching for a large quantity of keywords, as well as the process of collecting the results and storing them in a database for later data mining
Reason — class project. However, beyond that rather, um, valiant motive, this project is to also serve to help a professor out with his research project.
Methodology — I’ll be using the .NET framework due to it’s ease of use when interacting with a browser and database, programming in C#. The program should be able to run an automated search and collect for a single search term, a list of them, or a text file of terms

That’s about all for tonight. I’ll be back with more when inspiration strikes.

Oops on Blog #2

msucshot — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 07:31:29 +0000

As stated on The Mild-Mannered Hacker, I got a little off of my posting schedule. Coming back to it now, the rest of the Haskell series is going to have to wait. This semester is going to be taken up by a rather large project, so I’m going to be using Ctrl+Z as a development diary. More to come.

Haskell, Chapter 1

msucshot — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 08:18:45 +0000

C++ and Java programmers, beware! Python gurus, run for your lives! C# and VB app developers, bend over and kiss your butts goodbye! It ‘s an invasion, I tell you! The functions are coming! The functions are coming!

Too much? Probably. So what’s all this about? It’s about Haskell, a functional programming language in the tradition of Lisp, Scheme, Miranda, and many others. It’s about breaking out of the mold of imperative, object oriented programming languages. It’s about being a little adventurous in your programming career. So do it, already!

Right now, there’s a possibility that you’re thoroughly confused. Some of you may have never even heard of functional programming. So, perhaps a brief overview is in order. Functional programming gets rid of many of the traditional ideas behind imperative languages, eg. the C based languages, Python, Basic, etc. Based on the system of lambda calculus (a formal system developed for the creation and evaluation of functions and recursion), all computation is performed by the evaluation of mathematical functions. Now, if you’re not a math major, this sounds probably sounds rather, well, bad. Don’t worry, it’s really not. Truth be told, I’ve had a lot of fun programming in Haskell, both as serious coding and as a break from my usual choices in languages.

You know that Haskell is a functional programming language, but you’ll need to expand on that definition in order to really understand exactly what it is you’re working with. So, a formal definition: Haskell is a purely functional language incorporating non-strict semantics and “lazy” evaluation. Now let’s break that down (though not necessarily in the same order)

Functional — Computation is achieved through the evaluation of mathematical functions.
Pure — Any time you call a function with the same parameters, it will always return the same result, no matter how many times you call it during the execution of a program.
Lazy — The program delays execution of a given line of code until the result of that line is needed. Thus, if the value of a function is not needed later in the program, that function will never be evaluated.
Non-strict — This allows a function to be called even is all of its parameters have not yet been evaluated, permitting the above “laziness.”

So what does Haskell have that makes it so different? The real question is what doesn’t it have. Haskell is missing several common elements in programming: objects, reserved words, loops, variables. Yes that’s right. Haskell has no variables. So what does it have? Functions. Lots of functions. In fact, everything in Haskell is a function. Now stop for a second. What you just read is vitally important, and you need to stop and pound that fact through your skull. It’s so important, I’ll say it again. EVERYTHING is Haskell is a function. Make sure you have that down while I write the next section.

A small delay

msucshot — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:04:23 +0000

Looks like there’s going to be a small delay in getting the first series up…Gotta finish a paper first.

Damn you, college…

Welcome

msucshot — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 01:12:25 +0000

Welcome to Ctrl+Z, a side project of the Mild-Mannered Hacker. Content here will be computer/programming related, and the subject matter will just depend on what I’m working on at the time. Right now, it looks like the first series will be a little strange for most programmers, as it will focus on the language Haskell and the functional programming paradigm.

—Most people can agree on the Ten Commandments. Killing is wrong, stealing is wrong, and weekends are for sleeping. MM Hacker