Geeks3D Programming Links – June 22, 2011

Here are some links I tweeted or retweeted about coding, programming and other stuff for developers. If you have a link, just tweet me @JeGX.

• Optimizing software in C++: an optimization guide for Windows, Linux and Mac platforms (165-page PDF)
• EuroPython 2011: slides of a talk about Google Web APIs in Python.
  EuroPython is the official European conference about the Python programming language.
• GPU computing: ViennaCL (Vienna Computing Library) is a scientific computing library written in C++ and based on OpenCL. It allows simple, high-level access to the vast computing resources available on parallel architectures such as GPUs and is primarily focused on common linear algebra operations (BLAS levels 1, 2 and 3) and the solution of large systems of equations by means of iterative methods with optional preconditioner.
• GPU computing: OpenCL vs CUDA misconceptions
• Twitter Mention Mood Light: a mood light that alerts you when @username is mentioned on Twitter. Based on Arduino hardware and Python programming.
• A bunch of graphics programming papers like this one: High-Performance Software Rasterization on GPUs.
• Steve Jobs on programmer productivity:
  

  The way you get programmer productivity is not by increasing the lines of code per programmer per day. That doesn’t work. The way you get programmer productivity is by eliminating lines of code you have to write.

  The line of code that’s the fastest to write, that never breaks, that doesn’t need maintenance, is the line you never had to write.

• Some nice WebGL samples HERE and HERE.
• Intel SPMD Program Compiler: An open-source compiler for high-performance SIMD programming on the CPU.
• Writing High Performance Code on the iPhone: how to write code for the iPhone? C99? C++? TTTI?, STL?
• WebGL Camp (Mountain View, California) videos are online.
• ImageLite: a simple Python library for detecting mime type and dimensions of an image, with 0 dependencies outside of Python, struct and StringIO.
• Linear Spatial Filters with GNU Octave: an in-depth post to cover spatial filters, and how to use them in GNU Octave (a free implementation of the Matlab programming language).
• WebGL Security and Microsoft Bullshit: Microsoft exposes the same security issues than WebGL in Silverlight!
  

  The latest FUD is Microsoft’s claim that they won’t support WebGL because it’s insecure. They might have a little more credibility if they weren’t promoting a technology, Silverlight 5, that provides the EXACT SAME FEATURES with all the same issues. They can’t have it both ways. Either it’s possible to make this tech safe or else it’s not. If it is possible to make it safe in Silverlight 5 then it’s also just as possible in WebGL. If it’s not possible to make it safe Microsoft would have to come out and say (1) They are removing GPU access from Silverlight 5. (2) They are banning Unity3D from running in IE since it also provides access to the EXACT SAME FEATURES. (3) They are banning Flash 11 from running in IE since it also provides access to the EXACT SAME FEATURES.

• How do I find if a point lies within a polygon? Here is the answer: Point Inclusion in Polygon Test:

  int pnpoly(int nvert, float *vertx, float *verty, float testx, float testy) 
  {
    int i, j, c = 0;
    for (i = 0, j = nvert-1; i < nvert; j = i++) 
    {
      if ( ((verty[i]>testy) != (verty[j]>testy)) &&
  	 (testx < (vertx[j]-vertx[i]) * (testy-verty[i]) / (verty[j]-verty[i]) + vertx[i]) )
         c = !c;
    }
    return c;
  }
  

• DOS vulnerability in Silverlight 5's 3D (similar to WebGL DOS vulnerability).
• Before They Were Famous: id Software: Carmack with a nice blue shirt!
• Real-Time Eulerian Water Simulation:
  
  
  
• Demoscene: a really cool prod by mfx's guys: Cimallus:
  
  
  

quite - zeo-x-s from unc on Vimeo.