Some random thoughts related to programming

• Small is beautiful! This is a Unix philosophy that every programmer should be reminded of!
• To me, it is a "crime" to write a program that can only run on a specific OS or platform. I would never start a project on a toolchain that only runs on Windows or Mac.
• I hate slow programs. That's why I use the GPU for MC simulations, that's why I prefer the adjoint method for Jacobians, and that's also why I love OpenMP so much — because it is the cheapest way to make a program fast.
• Be "lazy": let the computer do everything, including:
  • you have to know how to use a code formatter (astyle, mh_style, black/blue, perltidy) to consistently reformat your code before every commit
  • you have to enable warnings — -Wall or even -pedantic — to let the compiler do the hard work and tell you which parts it considers problematic, and fix every warning
  • if you don't know how to create automated testing to verify code features and detect regressions after each commit, you are outdated
  • you got to know how to use a memory checker (valgrind, cuda-memcheck, compute-sanitizer)! It is THE simplest way to expose serious issues right in front of your eyes without asking much of you — this is the least you can do: FIX EVERY MEMORY ERROR!
  • to make your code fast, you'd better know how to use a profiler (valgrind --tool=cachegrind, Kcachegrind, ncu, nvprof); in most cases, your slow runtime is likely due to a few lines of inefficient code, and you need to find them
• The best way to learn a programming language is to learn it when you need it. You can't learn it by reading a book.
• Understanding and respecting open-source licenses is the VERY first step for anyone interested in doing open-source software.
• Do not despise FORTRAN — it was, and still is, the backbone of modern numerical computing, and MATLAB was built on it (MATLAB's matrix slicing with : came from FORTRAN).
• Many people don't realize it - fonts are the #1 visual element in a modern graphics environment. They are more visible than window borders, shadows, and your wallpapers. Almost all graphics-savvy users start by designing their own fonts because they are tired of the ordinary ones.
• Use open-source whenever you can! It is perpetual (and so is the license that lets you use it).
• Do not always chase the newest and shiniest frameworks. Use something that has endured the test of time. They have lasted for decades, and they will continue to survive for decades.