bash

Stack traces, backtraces, call stacks explained in JavaScript, Python, PHP

tomo — Fri, 11 Mar 2016 19:37:27 +0000

March 12, 2016

stack call stack stack trace javascript php python bash

People are rarely happy to see a stack trace. A stack trace often appears when software encounters an exception, an unexpected error which can't be handled gracefully and therefore most stop execution of the program. What the stack trace shows is what was happening in the moments leading up to the bug. The stack is called a stack because each item (each function call) is stacked on top of the previous one in a special part of computer memory called the stack. Most computers and programming languages work with a stack. In programs written in programming languages without side effects, a...

Choosing Shell script vs Python vs Node.js vs PHP for Server-side Command Line Scripting

tomo — Tue, 22 Dec 2015 09:07:59 +0000

December 22, 2015

node.js python php shell bash javascript

After decades of improvements in graphical user interfaces, the Unix command line interface still remains the most powerful way to get things done for a lot of workflows. This is due to many reasons: the difficulty of quickly and precisely moving the mouse cursor compared to the ability of touch typists to select exactly what they want (even when it's via hotkey combinations), but mainly (IMO) the expressive power of composing separate Unix commands into one pipe-separated command operating on standardized files (usually text).

It's also easy to write your own Unix commands which...