Big-M Notation

Today's node.js chaos seemed like it was only a simple lesson in Operations 101 (hint: always host the code for your application and the modules it depends on in the same place) until one looks at the actual function that everyone was linking to:

function leftpad (str, len, ch) {
  str = String(str);

  var i = -1;

  if (!ch && ch !== 0) ch = ' ';

  len = len - str.length;

  while (++i < len) {
    str = ch + str;
  }

  return str;
}

This is quite possibly the worst algorithm in the (admittedly short) history of padding strings. Unless JS is doing something special behind our backs, we're looking at something on the order of len string allocations here, each one slightly larger than the last.

OK, so JS more or less asks for problems like this because it refuses to provide anything remotely resembling a standard library. Still, this is a common enough problem: people using dynamic memory management as if it were free, with no awareness of the costs of memory allocation and subsequent garbage collection.

To help raise awareness, I propose a Big-M notation to supplement Big-O notation (and Big-theta and all that). Big-M, or M( ), determines how memory allocations in an algorithm will grow with an input n. As with the other Big-notations, lower-order terms are dropped. 

Using this notation, the above string padding algorithm is M(n), when it should be something constant like M(1).

why create two jobs when one will do?

NoSQL : "We don't want to pay for a DBA."

Devops : "We don't want to pay for a sysadmin."

Say goodbye to your weekends, suckaz.

The way it goes

Toy Code : Working source code which is extensively peer-reviewed, obsessively tested, well-documented, and released once. Often used in articles, examples, mailing lists, and blog posts/comments.

Production Code: Working source code which is rarely reviewed, infrequently tested, poorly documented, and regularly released. Responsible for the majority of the world's electronic infrastructure.

Unfortunate words

leverage: To utilize or exploit in an unspecified, hand-wavy, and generally unplanned manner.
We leverage the core compentency of our acquisitions in this sector to maximise ROI throughout the project lifecycle.

pundit: A cheerleader in the sport of politics.
Pundits are claiming that the candidate's gaffe is an opportunity to appeal to blue-collar voters, in stark contrast to his opponent's overly intellectual demeanor.

punditry: The presentation of half-considered opinion as research- or poll-backed fact. Generally considered the province of pundits and journalists.
(See above)

blogosphere: Amateur hour in the world of publish-or-perish.
Lo, it is easier for a shark to stop swimming, than for a blogger to refrain from banal commentary.