Blog | Severin Perez

2019

Ditch the Daily News Habit

Much has been made of the question about what it is to be an informed citizen. We’re instructed to “read widely,” “engage in debate”, “seek out new viewpoints,” etc. The message is clear: the more information you consume, the better informed you will be. On its face, this is reasonable and well-intentioned advice. The problem is that it’s also completely wrong.

June 18, 2019
7 min read

news essay

2018

The Secret Lives of Memes

In the modern sense, we think of a meme as a funny photo, or catchphrase, or joke that comes into our lives for a fleeting moment, typically via the Internet, and then goes on its merry way. But there is something arguably more sinister to the process. To us, the exchange of a meme is a bit of levity, but to the meme, the exchange is a question of survival. To propagate, to live, the meme must spread.

November 3, 2018
10 min read

memes information article
Thematic Configuration with the Abstract Factory Pattern

In object-oriented design, one of the principle aims is to produce code that is flexible, maintainable, and reusable. One of the ways to do this is to use abstractions in your code rather than concretions. The more your objects know about how one another are implemented, the more dependencies there are in your system. As the number of dependencies grows, the potential for cascading breakage grows as well. But what happens when you have a system that requires certain objects to come from the same family?

October 17, 2018
12 min read

design patterns software
Extending Object Behavior with the Decorator Pattern

In some situations, it may be preferable not to mutate a given object. Or more likely, you won’t even have the option of mutating an object because it may come from a codebase over which you have no control (such as an external library). Such cases are relatively common; however, it’s still possible to enhance an immutable object’s behavior. One effective means to do so is with the decorator pattern.

October 13, 2018
9 min read

design patterns software
Effective Program Structuring with the Dependency Inversion Principle

In the final part of the SOLID series, we discuss dependency organization and how to avoid changes that cascade throughout a program with the Dependency Inversion Principle.

October 11, 2018
10 min read

solid software principles
Coding Dynamic Behavior with the Strategy Pattern

One of the benefits of object-oriented design is the ability for objects to share some behaviors while simultaneously differing in others. Typically, this is achieved through inheritance--when many subclasses inherit properties from a parent class but can optionally override certain behaviors as needed. This is a very useful and common design pattern; however, there are situations when polymorphism through inheritance is inappropriate.

October 10, 2018
10 min read

design patterns software
Avoiding Interface Pollution with the Interface Segregation Principle

In part 4 of the SOLID series, we continue the discussion of decoupling and how to avoid so-called 'interface pollution', wherein classes are unnecessarily forced to implement behaviors that they don’t need. It is here that our next SOLID principle appears: the Interface Segregation Principle.

October 9, 2018
11 min read

solid principles software
Making the Most of Polymorphism with the Liskov Substitution Principle

In part 3 of the SOLID series, we discuss the Liskov Substitution Principle (LSP) and how you can use it to ensure that a given object and all of its subtypes can be used interchangeably.

October 4, 2018
12 min read

solid principles software
Maintainable Code and the Open-Closed Principle

In part 2 of the SOLID series, we discuss what happens when an object needs to change. As with responsibility changes, this poses a challenge for the maintenance of downstream objects that could inadvertently be affected by the change. One way to reduce the impact of this challenge is to adhere to the second of the SOLID principles: the Open-Closed Principle (OCP).

September 18, 2018
14 min read

solid principles software
Reflections on Clean Code

One of the most important elements of a software engineer’s personal development is reading. In a field so vast, and so varied, constant reading is important both for building foundational knowledge and exploring branch knowledge. And as in any profession where the written word plays a large role, software has it’s 'must read' books. One of those, is Clean Code, by Robert C. Martin.

September 10, 2018
11 min read

principles software books solid