Malexandre
Thoughts from a random software engineer

Python

Keep Learning and Having Fun

Code, Python, Todoist, HackerRank, LeetCode · Published the 22 Oct 17
874 words · 5 min read
I’ve been coding for a long time, my first steps were in the very late 90s. I became serious about it only around 2004. I started being paid for my work since 2008, and working full time since february 2010. I started by being heavily invested in C++, then move to web development in 2012, and still going at it today. And what’s awesome is that I’m still having so much fun.
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Mocking Redis & Expiration in Python

Code, Tests, Python, Redis · Published the 08 Oct 17
1062 words · 5 min read
Recently, I had to use Redis for the first time. I heard of it, but never really played with it. But this time I had no choice, and I don’t regret it at all, Redis is awesome. But having a new component means that I had to discover from scratch how to test it. I tried a few libraries, but one seemed really easy to use, at least to the point where I wanted to test that I was correctly using the expiration time for my data.
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Node Web App Without Database

Blog, Code, Docker, Hugo, Live-Hugo, OVH, Node, Python · Published the 01 Oct 17
822 words · 4 min read
As I said in an earlier post, I’m currently working on a Node/Preact app to manage my Hugo blog without having to use my computer & editor. Since I’m alone on this, with no deadline, I can take my time, try different things, etc. At first, I was going to use a database to remember the files on the disk, make searching through them faster. But I decided to test if it was viable to manage everything without a database.
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Basics of Encryption & Ciphers

Code, Cryptography, Python, AES · Published the 16 Sep 17
1258 words · 6 min read
Trying to use a library to encrypt your data can be a lot to handle when you have no experience or knowledge about their inner workings. There is more than just selecting a cipher algorithm like Blowfish or AES. You also have to chose a mode, manage an initialization vector, and sometimes even more. As a memento, but also to help others, I will try to explain some of those concepts, and how to use them with PyCrypto, the main encryption library in Python.
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