Python

Wow, almost a year since my last post.

I learned three things from my first attempt to learn Elixir.

1. Cool language!

2. Cool community!

3. Old brain can no longer jump between a major Python project and a new language.

But there’s no longer any need to jump!

Can’t believe it has been almost two months since I’ve written any Elixir. I’m sufficiently ahead on my client’s second Python project that I’m taking a break and getting back to Elixir for the rest of the month. My goal is to make significant progress on the NVD Cache project.

I tossed together some Python scripts that download and massage the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposure (CVE) data from the NIST/NVD website.

I’ve selected a small Elixir project to write between wrapping up one Python project and starting on the next. The SimpleCardBrand project will return the bank-card type based on the first six digits in the card.

A quick hex.pm search found packages that return more detailed information, but I didn’t find anything that ran without calling a web service.

I like this for a quick project as it can easily be done in a LiveBook and it primarily relies on function parameter pattern matching.

Let’s see where I am in a few days.

I’ve been side-tracked by a project to generate fairly complex multi-thousand page reports. Python and ReportLab are my go-to standards for this type of project.

I needed to create a plugin for the ReportLab RML templating language to render dynamic Matplotlib charts.

I’m ready to get back to Elixir after spending the last few weeks using Python and ReportLab/RML to generate multi-thousand line PDF reports. The project is only about 2/3 finished and currently stalled waiting for client answers.

While coding the Python project I kept trying to think about how I’d approach the work in Elixir (assuming a ReportLab-style package was available). In order to create a ReportLab/RML report, I first create a (fairly large) blob of data containing information loaded from multiple .csv files and then arranged and summarized multiple ways.

In Python I use multiple classes (a base class contains many attributes that are themselves classes). Historically, I’d tend to use dictionaries instead of classes, but I also used an IDE (VS Code) for the first time and wanted to get the IDE hints as well as type hint everything.

In Elixir:

A short break while I return to the land of Python and ReportLab PDF generation. This is my first time using the commercial ReportLab PLUS markup language (RML). Already have about 1,500 lines of RML generating multi-hundred page reports.

I’ll be doing some reading homework with the early release version of Elixir in Action, Third Edition by Saša Jurić.

Plan to be back in April.

Writing Your Own Sigils

1. Lowercase sigils interpolate their parameters, uppercase sigils do not.

2. User-defined sigils are not globally available. Need to be imported. Reduces the risk of running into a system-defined sigil.

Protocols remind me of Python’s duck typing.

Back in college I struggled with Calculus; had a hard time grasping the concept of the day. After a semester break, I’d ace the test reviewing previous topics. Just took awhile for the concepts to settle into my brain.

I’m experiencing a similar effect with Elixir. Came back after a few days and was able to make significant progress on Chapter 13’s Formatting a Table exercise.

Things are starting to click.