Somewhere out there on the internet, there’s a “showdown” between @synchronized, NSLock, pthread mutexes, and OSSpinLock. It aims to measure their performance relative to each other, but uses sloppy code to perform the measuring. As a result, while the performance ordering is correct (@synchronized is the slowest, OSSpinLock is the fastest), the relative cost is severely misrepresented. Herein I attempt to rectify that benchmark.
2009.09.23
2009.09.12
CollegeAdvantage referral bonus again
Last year, CollegeAdvantage’s 529 college savings plan offered a referral bonus where those opening new accounts, as well as those referring them, received $25 bonuses. They’ve recently reinstated that bonus, so I figured I’d post some shameless self-promoting in the hopes of getting y’all some free college savings (for kids, etc), and get some for me as well (for our future children). (more…)
2009.09.05
alloc, allocWithZone showdown
This brief post will explore some more mundane (but still measurable!) aspects of optimizing Objective-C software. This time around, we’ll talk about object allocation. (more…)
2009.07.02
Pricey ivars
(apologies in advance — this will be a rather technical post. It’s eventually intended for fdiv.net, but while it’s getting migrated I figured I’d plop it down here.)
Instance Variables (or, more briefly, ivars) are a pretty simple trend in Object Oriented Languages. They’re data that get carried along inside an object, helping to define its state. While it would be fun to elaborate more on this, this particular article isn’t intended to teach the basics of OOP. So if you’re unsure of what an ivar is, this article probably isn’t for you. (more…)
2009.06.24
2009.05.15
curriculum vitae
A lot of lists have popped up where I frequent (digitally, at least) lately. Intended schedules, self-diagnostics, recipes, time-lapse accomplishments, etc. You know the drill. At one point in the not-so-distant past, I was probably pretty good maintaining such things as well. I suppose I need to refine my time management skills (or lack thereof) to keep things fresh. (more…)
2009.03.05
Shadows
I guess it’s been a while. As is oh-so-often the case, I overcommit myself to too many things, and then pay dearly. Some may call it a trade, time for experience, money, or glory. I simply see it as exploration. With a lot still on my plate, I suppose it’s appropriate to take a brief break from Xcode, and jot down some thoughts to keep this blog from getting too stale.
2009.01.05
2008.12.08
“Security Questions”
Every time I have to register for some site that performs financial transactions on my behalf, I have to register, create an account, and then pick stupid security questions. These used to be fairly static questions, but then a few years ago someone got the bright idea to make variations on them to make it “more secure”. The end result, however, is less than desirable.
2008.11.25
$25 for funding a 529 plan
From now (actually a couple weeks ago) until December 15th, 2008, you can get a free $25 contribution if you open a new 529 account at CollegeAdvantage.com and deposit $25. (meaning, you add $25, they add $25 a week or so later, doubling your investment.) Pretty slick, so here’s how it works.