Fun on The Final Artefact

Version Control your Dotfiles

Fri, 14 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

What are .dotfiles?

Dotfiles are hidden configuration files on Unix-like systems.
Their filenames start with a dot (.), making them hidden by default.
They store preferences and settings for programs like shells, text editors, and version control systems.

Many modern Linux applications follow the XDG Base Directory Specification.
This guideline recommends placing user-specific configuration files in ~/.config (or $XDG_CONFIG_HOME).
Using this standard reduces clutter in home directories and simplifies managing configurations across systems.

Showing ChatGPT How to Draw

Wed, 14 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Background

For a computer, an image is collection of interpretable instructions that amount to a visual representation. Raster images are composed from using pixels, containing unique colours, whereas vector images keep track of points and equations that join them. In $\LaTeX$ PGF/TikZ is used to generate vector graphics from algebraic descriptions. TikZ is mostly used to conveniently draw various scientific figures. ChatGPT is capable of generating computer code in majority of popular languages. I wanted to test how far I can get with ChatGPT generating illustrations using TikZ.

Beauty of R and Big-O

Thu, 09 Dec 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Big-O

The purpose of this is not to provide yet another primer on the Big-O/$\Omega$/$\Theta$ notation but to share my enduring appreciation for working with R. I will introduce Big-O only briefly to provide context but I would refer all of those who are interested to the linked materials.

What is Big-sth notation

When analysing functions, we may be interested in knowing how fast a function grows. For instance, for function $T(n)=4n^2-2n+2$, after ignoring constants, we would say that $T(n)$ grows at the order of $n^2$. With respect to the Big-O notation we would write $T(n)=O(n^2)$^[MIT. (2021, December 9). Big O notation. Introduction to Computers and Programming. Retrieved December 26, 2021, from https://web.mit.edu/16.070/www/lecture/big_o.pdf]. Most commonly, in computer science, we would differentiate between Big O, Big Theta $(\Theta)$ and Big Omega $(\Omega)$. In a nutshell, the differences between those common notations can be summarised as follows:

On Sorting Arrays...or why it's good to read the actual assignment

Sun, 23 May 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Problem

Solving challenges on project Euler or HackerRank is a good past time. For folks working in the wider analaytical / data science field, places like project Euler provide an excellent opportunity to work with academic programming concepts that do not frequently appear in real-life. I was looking at common problem:

You are given an unordered array consisting of consecutive integers [1, 2, 3, …, n] without any duplicates. You are allowed to swap any two elements. Find the minimum number of swaps required to sort the array in ascending order.
Example Perform the following steps: