Bootstrapping Go

Over the weekend, I came across a couple of videos on how the Go compiler was migrated from C to Go. The Go compiler was originally written in C and after it reached a certain level of maturity, the creators were looking at how to bootstrap the compiler in Go so that the language can inherit some of the benefits of Go.

Mar 11, 2017·4 min read

Coaching software engineers 101

Software engineers are a breed apart and coaching them to bring out their best has almost been a passion for me. I've had the pleasure of working with really good software engineers and watching them climb the ranks and achieve their career objectives has been especially fulfilling over the years.

Jul 8, 2016·4 min read

Stop worrying, and just get things done

Two years ago, I pulled out my dusty copy of David Allen's Getting Things Done and decided to do a another skim through. Things were getting out of hand and I really needed to get my act together in managing the daily barrage of endless activity.

May 15, 2016·7 min read

Building Android from source

Building Android from source seems like a daunting task at first, but it's really not that hard. I'll walk through the steps as simply as possible to get your first AOSP build running on your handset.

Oct 3, 2015·5 min read

Getting setup with the Intel Edison

Intel Edison is an adorable little system on a chip packed with all the wireless and processing capabilities to build wearables and smart things. It features a dual-core Intel Atom processor at 500 MHz, integrated Bluetooth 4 and wifi, USB controllers, 1GB of RAM and 4GB of eMMC flash memory, all in a tiny package.

Jan 11, 2015·4 min read

On key signing and trust

Key signing is a hallowed tradition in the open source world with a very specific protocol for validating and confirming an identity before accepting someone to the web of trust.

Jun 2, 2014·3 min read

On Perl and Poetry

I first learnt of Perl in the late 90's. Sometime around '98 or '99. Fresh on the heels of BASIC, I was yearning to try out something new when I heard of Perl.

Sep 22, 2013·2 min read

Software Freedom Day 2013 @ Virtusa

This last week, the fine folk at the Virtusa Open Source SIG organized an event to celebrate the Software Freedom Day where my good friends Mifan and Suchetha made keynotes.

Apr 21, 2013·7 min read

Google App Engine + APNS

Earlier this month, Google App Engine released support for outbound sockets and I figured that a Saturday spent mucking around with AppEngine to see if I could get it to work with APNS would be time well spent.

Jan 14, 2013·9 min read

Git guts

Today I will dive into the guts of git to showcase the simplicity and elegance in which git manages the content internally in it's own content addressable file system.

Dec 31, 2012·2 min read

Musings on Git

Having spent some quality time with Git over the holidays, my appreciation for the flexibility of this DVCS and the elegance with which it has been constructed has reached a state of awe.

Sep 23, 2010·2 min read

Mahavilachchiya needs you!

Several years ago, I got the opportunity to visit a small foundation in the middle of the jungle in Mahavilachchiya that made a strong impression on me and my friends in the LKLUG.