News (2)

Google open sources XML-alternative Protocol Buffers

XML, it seems, has run out of steam for Google. Google said Monday that it has created an open source project for a data interchange format called Protocol Buffers. Read more »

MPAA blames Linux Australia notice on 'human error'

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has blamed Linux Australia's wrongful receipt of a copyright infringement notice on a worker's "bad day". Read more »

Features (7)

Huffman coding in Python

We'll show you how to implement Huffman encoding, which is useful when dealing with small sets of items, such as character strings, in Python. Read more »

Run length encoding in Python

Data compression is a must in modern communication. Run length encoding is one of the simplest effective forms of compression. We'll show you how you can implement it in just a few lines of Python. Read more »

Reading zip archives in Python

Zip is the name of a popular file compression algorithm, which lets you both combine multiple files into a single archive and store them on disk using less space. We'll show you how you can open and read zip files in your Python scripts. Read more »

Faster, smaller, clearer: Python iterator tools

With Python's itertools module you can quickly and simply perform some of the more complicated operations you'll need to do on lists. It will make your code perform better and become easier to read. Read more »

Python groupby, the iterator swiss army knife

The groupby function is useful for a range of needs, but one of the best uses for it is in replicating the UNIX filter uniq in Python. Read more »

Writing and appending to zip archives in Python

Following up from last week's article on reading zip archives, we show you how you can create your own archives using Python. Read more »

A Quick Start to Python

With the final release of Python 2.5 we thought it was about time Builder AU gave our readers an overview of the popular programming language. Builder AU's Nick Gibson has stepped up to the plate to write this introductory article for beginners. Read more »

Log in


Sign up | Forgot your password?

Blogs

RSS feed

  • Staff XP stays on life support for longer

    This week's Roundup looks at Microsoft's decision to extend the life of Windows XP, the release of Microsoft Surface SDK, Firefox's new Geode plug-in, Yahoo's new tool -- Smush It and more. Read more »

    -- posted by Staff

  • Chris Duckett The good and truly awful celluloid depictions of computers

    Ever wonder why your lawyer uncle leaves the room whenever you turn over to Boston Legal? Or why your forensic science cousin can't stand crime drama? You know the answer: it’s the horrid trivialisation and dumbing down of an occupation to make it appear entertaining. Sometimes it is so unbelievable that it actually hurts and yelling at the screen is the only outlet. Read more »

    -- posted by Chris Duckett

  • Brendon Chase Apple's iPhone engineers to tour Sydney, Melbourne

    Aussie developers will be able to get up close and personal with some of the iPhone engineers in November to learn how to build applications for the platform. Read more »

    -- posted by Brendon Chase

What's on?