Some programming concepts

Library: Lets take for example. You write code that prints Hello World to the screen. Someone refines it and maybe it starts to ask input before printing. Someone again adds different text formatting to it and you no longer need to rewrite the same code ever again to achieve that functionality.

Framework: Imagine you are builing a house. and you get a system that provides the scafflolding, foundation and the frame at the same time so that you don't need to redo most of the work. This is like a library on a grander scale- flexibility/functionality is reduced.

SDK: In the old days - one would get a software development kit (something like pictured below). But it would be filled with floppy disks, documentation books etc. So it was an actual kit!

Class: This is a template\blueprint or a recipe list.

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Making money with the falling rand: Lessons from Zimbabwe

It is no secret that the rand is falling like there is no tomorrow. This year alone it has fallen by over 18%. And if you look closely, at the last 3 years- it has fallen by 35%! This is not neglecting the economic setup where the slightest thing leads to ‘ toi toi. ' This trend of continuous striking and pay rate increase bargains has created such a vicious cycle. Prices rise, people strike, economy starts going through stuff. And we back at square one. We all know for sure that this cycle is bad. Zimbabwe and South Africa might not be different soon, only difference being that Zimbabwe chased the farmers, South Africa is chasing stabilisation. (Maybe the paradox of thrift (prompted by the large population) will save them! Hope so.) In Zimbabwe 2008, a lot of people made a lot of money from ‘burning money’. This was whereby people took advantage of the bank rate versus the ‘streets’ rate of forex. The streets rate for forex was lower than the bank rate. Problem wa...

Artificial Neural Networks - Intro for beginners

The perceptron Single node perceptron Perceptrons form the basis for ANNs. Perceptron takes input and produces output as below: Input ➡️ Activation Function ➡️ Output Input If the weight is 0- input remains unaltered coming into the perceptron. Below is what happens to the input ∑ w i z i ≽ t then y = 1. Else y = 0. i t is the threshold which is set by the outgoing part. So the key to output is based on the weighted sum and the threshold. Activation function This is the processing part of the neuron and this determines output. So most commonly the ones used are the Sigmoid function and the hyperbolic tangent. QUESTION: Which activation function should I use? I am going to talk of three key activation functions a) Sigmoid The Sigmoid returns 0 or 1 and in code can be written as return 1.0/(1.0+Math.exp(-x) A Sigmoid is a mathematical curve having the characteristic S shape. DISADVANTAGE: Descending Gradient b) Tanh DISAD...

Gentlest introduction : The Cloud

How it began To me the concept of cloud started when people began virtualizing their systems using the like of Virtual-box and VMware. What bough this a;long was the evolution/advent of technology which made it possible for software so simulate hardware. Originally software could not simulate hardware drivers but the moment that became possible- virtualization was born. A few years after- companies started offering this virtualization at a much grander scale and Infrastructure as a service was born. Lets get down to the three cloud components namely: Infrastructure as a Service (IAAS) This outsourced hardware meaning that one noways noes not need to setup servers, air-con and the like of access control but could 'rent' from someone and one of the great things about this was that a backup not only meant software but also meant hardware (as software could now simulate hardware) so recovery in case of disaster became easier. Platform as a Service (PAAS) This is ...

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