Chris Donnan : Programming - Brooklyn Style

How I have fit IronPython, Ruby, JRuby and IronRuby into my existing .net projects0
chrisdrop posted in ruby, java, c#, Interop, programming, .net, dynamic languages, python on May 10th, 2008

Ruby and Python are great languages. I have spent several years now with ruby and I am just getting into python in the past year or so. I will still admit that I prefer ruby in every way, but I have come to like and appreciate python as well.

I have been working on building some very interesting global derivative trading applications - so how do python and ruby factor in?? Well - I could have ‘just used them’ in several places. That of course is not valuable, but I have found a few ways to use these tools to really add value to my projects.

Scripting for your existing .net application

I have been making an effort to make our plugin application suite scriptable. I have been able to get IronPython 2 running along with a syntax hi-lighting code editor. It has proved extremely useful. I have also tried to do the same for IronRuby, but with less useful success. Why you may ask - predominantly for 2 reasons:

IronPython vs IronRuby for scripting your existing applications

Basically, IronRuby does not let you do some things that are a must! You CANNOT unsub from events yet . The other big issue is calling existing .net APIs that need generic args. You can see Jon Lam’s response to my queries here. Jon also said:

Our .NET interop is fairly weak today. Because of our current push to get the language running in time for RailsConf, all .NET interop work is being pushed back into June on our schedule.

I understand, but this does make it virtually unusable for using as an existing scripting engine against my current .net applications.

IronPython 2 does a MUCH better job of .net interop. It basically just works as expected in 99% of the cases I have needed it for. This is just a joy I must say. Especially trying to use the early cuts of IronRuby on the DLR, it was painful to get anything interop based between existing .net and IronRuby really working.

Another thing I have done with IronPython is to support ‘calculated formula columns’ in a UI Grid control. We basically implemented this and it is currently ‘not supported’ in production, but in a future iteration we have planned (and requested from users), excel like formula summaries/ aggregations. We will continue this work with IronPython.

So - as you can see - IronPython made itself able to add value.

So how have I fit in Ruby in a meaningful way?

Essentially, we have a plugin framework so that several teams can concurrently develop ‘independent’ applications that can integrate. This means that there are several global teams developing plugins (think eclipse) that can integrate, use and extend one another. This is great, but it means there are all kinds of build, assembly versioning and other application packaging, deployment issues.

In any big bank, or other corporation I expect, there will be different ways of doing things. The continuous builds for differing teams may be different. Some are nant based, some are simple, some are complex, some are msbuild, some do a better job of CruiseControl setup than others, etc, etc. Now if you want to take the work from several teams like this, and build, package, test, deploy in a sane way, there is some orchestration needed. This is where I have used ruby to add real value.

Ruby, Rake/ Python, BuildBot

Rake (and plain old ruby, not j, iron, or another variety) have enabled me to have a single homogenous view of the otherwise complex world. It is basically my tool for integrating multiple teams that are doing things as is appropriate in their own area, but not necessarily what is the ‘best’ for use by everyone else in the world. Ruby has REALLY shined here. In stead of having dozens of XML, Nant, MSBuild scripts, MSBuild extensions, Nant extensions, cruisecontrol configs, bat files, etc - I have ‘owned’ them all with some rake build scripts. I have managed to do this with some ~200 lines of terse, easy to read ruby.

Interestingly, a smart colleague of mine has done something very similar with plain-old-python (and BuildBot). He has managed to take some 50 projects that can be put together in varying ways, built, deployed, etc. He has taken a very difficult problem (managing a large enterprise suite of .net of branched, versioned and VERY WIDELY UTILIZED software) and owned it with some 400-500 lines of python.

What did we get for our efforts with python and ruby?

Number one is just the joy of really getting into daily use of other languages. I have programmed several languages over the years from C/C++, to Java, to SQL, Javascript, Tradestation EL, to Python and Ruby. Working with new languages is a good experience - bottom line. I have had a lot more time with ruby than python. I always love ruby, and I have really enjoyed more real time with python in the past year. I think these languages have each made me a better programmer.

With regards to scripting applications, these languages, in particular IronPython have just made it too easy to add value fast. I have done the work with ANTLR, regex garbage languages, compiling C#, etc. These approaches ALL take much more effort to get similar rewards. I can see myself working in a mode of ‘core plumbing’ in C# and/ java and the higher level stuff in IronRuby JRuby.

That reminds me, a small note. Since we are java server/ .net client apps, I have used JRuby on several occasions to quickly do some send messages around the network, and otherwise mimic stuff coming from the server. I have had more effort on the client/ .net side of things, but I am sure if I was doing more server work, I would be using JRuby all the time.

Regarding build and integration - the big thing that we got IMO was a homogenous solution. Whereas before, there were the xml files, bat files, etc. - we each now have small bits of easy to manage code that does all we need. This is coupled to a small degree of ‘convention over configuration’, but essentially, we have gotten a lot of value for a little code and effort. We have also gotten easy to maintain solutions going forward.

Downsides??

The only real downside here is ‘adding more tools’. There is always resistance (appropriate more or less) to adding to the enterprise overhead of ‘more tech’. Developers also need to learn more to work in more ‘polygot programmer’ environment. So the ‘more tech is bad’ and ‘devs need to learn more’ arguments are valid arguments. That being said, I think the benefits are outweighing the downsides so far.

The future?

I see more coming in the same spaces. I will be working more on ‘higher level scripting’ of existing .net apps, and build/ integration etc. At some point, I can see doing ‘it all’ with these languages perhaps - but I think the current sweet spot in the stack is adding value at certain points of the abstraction. The right tools for the right job and all that.

How Has Functional Programming Influenced Your Coding Style?0
chrisdrop posted in programming on April 28th, 2008

In a rare straight up pointer to somebody else’s blog!:

How Has Functional Programming Influenced Your Coding Style?

When I have time, I will comment - but needless to say - my exposure to FP really has changed (in a positive way) my coding style.

-Chris

Ruby refactors equals and get hash0
chrisdrop posted in ruby, c#, programming on April 20th, 2008

I was looking @ moving some code for a project that was started in C# to Ruby. 1stly, it is astounding how much less code it takes to do the same stuff. That however is not the reason I chose to post this morning.

Gabe and Micah are playing nicely together today (it is nice when a 3 and 5 year old brothers can get along so well). I have been fiddling with this code on the sofa and while moving my code, I came to move a c# Equals(object) method and the counterpart GetHashCode(). ReSharper is a great tool - it had given the basis for these overrides. Simple Alt+Insert gives you the ‘generate’ menu and from there you can ask it to generate these methods for you. Essentially - you tell ReSharper the fields that must be ‘unique’ and then it can handle the Equals and GetHashCode methods for you.

Here is what I had in my c# code:

Now this is fine (not exactly) for my C# application as I see it. ReSharper kindly churned out the code I needed also - which is great. When I moved it into ruby however, it looked very un-ruby. Astute readers will also notice that the implementations of Equals and GetHashCode do not match - the Alias property was added later, included in the Equals but NOT in the GetHashCode . Generating code has its issues it would seem.

One of the areas that ruby excels at is helping you write less code. Part of that is identifying the little repeated bits in your code and automating it away with a little ruby.

So what is the pattern above? Well - equals checks for null, checks for direct object reference comparison, then checks a number of fields. It also does a type check. Then it compares a number of fields. If any of these fields fails comparison - it returns false. Ruby does not really need the type check, it just says ‘if you have these props then you are fine by me’ (duck typing).

The folks @ JetBrains recognized the pattern - based on the input of what properties are unique, it generates a code snippet. In ruby, we will not generate code, but handle it like this:

Here include a module called SymbolHashEquals. In this module I define 2 methods symbol_hash and symbol_eql?. These methods take a list of attributes and then apply the same logic that resharper generated. This uses ruby’s symbols that allow you to refer to elements by the ‘name of the code’ or … symbol.

In stead of having our class generate methods based on a heuristic or 2, we simply make a module that holds that abstraction, then we include it, and have our host class use it. Essentially, since ruby lets you ‘do more with less’ we do not have to ‘generate more code’ - we simply can codify more into our solution and have less dumb, generated code. Instead of investing in software to generate more code, we do less!

Here is our module that works on the symbols and handes the standard eql?and hash.

Now - rather than generating code every time I need that same logical heuristic, I simply include that 1 module, and we are good to go. Less code, less repetition, etc.

There you have it - ruby rocks!

=Chris=

CEP Explained0
chrisdrop posted in programming on April 3rd, 2008

language oriented programming0
chrisdrop posted in programming on March 30th, 2008

The building/ spreading meme of ‘language oriented programming’.

Martin Fowler + Neal Ford

Steve Yegge’s entertaining rant (his dialect of English)

Essentially - Java (and those like it) are good at making the lowest level bits and pieces of software, but bad at making logical ’sentences’ of software.

All seems interesting….

Back to my non-stop work-athon - build done.

-Chris

Microsoft Prism (think CAB for WPF)0
chrisdrop posted in programming, .net on March 13th, 2008

The 1st Reference Implementation app and other bits drop today. Here. I will be looking hard at all this immediately as it is directly relevant to my world. Good details here.

Fun;
Chris

PS - I have been doing random .net build things with rake this evening. I gotta say - it is pretty darn nice and thusfar - seems better in many ways than MSBuild. More to come there too, it is still day 1 of playing.

What is in Silverlight vs the standard .Net 3.5 framework?0
chrisdrop posted in c#, programming, .net, sliverlight on March 10th, 2008

I was going to take one small code example and try to put it in a browser with Silverlight this evening. I added some code, then I added a reference to System.ComponentModel. There was considerably less there. I then began comparing Silverlight’s assemblies with what you get in a normal .net app. Needless to say - there is no where near the same level of stuff. They have done well - it feels like developing a normal .net app with C#, or with Ruby which is great. BUT there is a TON missing compared to a normal .net 3.5 app.

Let us look for example @ just the System stuff:

Here is where Silverlight’s System assembly is:

Here is what is in there:

Here is what is in the .net 3.5 Framework’s system:

So -while it is a great effort to get this stuff running cross platform and in a browser - there is simply a lot of stuff missing that you would be accustomed to when just coding up in the .net 3.5 framework.

-Chris

Test Post from TextMate on my MacBook Air0
chrisdrop posted in programming on March 9th, 2008

This is a test post - from TextMate to Wordpress using the Blogging Bundle… I hope it works!

Dynamic Silverlight Bits Out0
chrisdrop posted in programming, wpf, mac, sliverlight on March 9th, 2008

You can now go and get the Dynamic Silverlight bits here. This will let you run Silverlight 2 applications based on IronRuby and IronPython in the browser. It feels like real WPF actually - you make xaml files, you make ruby files, you embed them in an silverlight applet in a webpage and you are good to go.

Not only this - but you can also build your Dynamic Silverlight apps with Mono on a Mac. the downloads have the things you need to do so.

XBAP based WPF applications will have the ‘full richness’ of WPF - but you will only run on Windows machines. I still need to sort out the security sandboxing models of XBAP applications and for Silverlight applications. How do you interact with local resources from a Silverlight app?? Can you?? How much client side state can you store in a Silverlight app - can I store 20 mb of static data in client memory?? Regarding XBAPS - can you do everything you can do in an installed WPF app via an XBAP app?? Questions, questions, questions.

With MIX 08 Happening this past week, there is just a ton going on in the Microsoft community. I also had to download the iPhone SDK (even though I have not bought an iPhone yet) just to see what it was all about since that was the other bug techie dev news this week IPHONE SDK!

Erlang on OSX0
chrisdrop posted in programming, erlang on March 8th, 2008

Getting setup with Erlang on OSX was simple - ./configure, sudo make install, etc.

I tried the Eclipse Erlang plugin… not so hot - they are trying - but it is not really there yet.

I found a Textmate bundle for Erlang. make a text file, chmod so you can execute it, run it. You do not even have to restart Textmate and you have basic erlang code highlighting, etc. That and an open terminal do the trick.

With this - I have been able to have a basic working model. Code, compile, etc. It is amazing how much tooling I rely on day to day coding C# or Java. Visual Studio, Resharper, Intelli J - these tools REALLY do a TON. On one hand it is refreshing to get to just a text editor and a compiler again, but on the other hand - I am just not sure how productive you can possibly be compared to an environemt with TONS of tooling. Simple refactorings becomde ‘grep’ efforts in stead of a code construct aware proper refactoring…

More to come;
Chris

Robert Martin and Jim Coplien0
chrisdrop posted in programming, unit testing on March 8th, 2008

Robert Martin and Jim Coplien on Test Driven Development, architecture evolution, how much design up front

Coplien said that he thought - 1/2 hr up front modeling the basic top level structure for a 2 million line of code telecom system. The question of how much up front, vs how much is pure TDD is an interesting one. This is a hard balance to strike I think. When planning a global scale trading system for example - there must be some up front planning… How much??

Food for thought.

-Chris

IronRuby, WPF and Mix 080
chrisdrop posted in ruby, programming, .net on March 8th, 2008

It is all over the blog-o-sphere, but I have been waiting to see if we got IronRuby + WPF @ Mix… and we sort of did - manifest in Silverlight 2. You can also see the bulk of sessions from Mix 08 here.

Back to IronRuby + WPF - Jon Lam’s blog (the main IronRuby guy) has examples of some webby (yeah it is silverlight for the web) stuff, using IronRuby. It is key to see that this is just a step from full desktop WPF.

I still believe that we will have a nice, rich programming environment for desktop application development with IronRuby and WPF - as soon as the tools really support it. I must say that the latest release of C# has much more compelling language features than ever before - stolen from the dynamic language folks, who already stole a lot from the functional programming folks. Ruby is still lovely.

-Chris