Create
You know, do stuff. Experiment, hack, write programs, build houses. Creating means going against nature in some way: second law of thermodynamics rules out everything to go into chaos, while creation is about organizing matter or information. Creation is easy and natural behavior of children with their rich imagination, but keeping up with it when you get older requires dedication.
Collaborate
Working on something in isolation can be reasonable, but the potential of collaboration is greater. Discuss your ideas with friends, relatives, and even with random people on the Internet. Visit conferences to hear other peoples ideas, form work groups, and adjust your own goals. A well done argument may multiply each individual intellegence with regards to solving the target problem, when the idea is being ping-ponged between brains, evolving with each hit.
Complete
Creation process is an engine, and to keep working it needs to complete cycles. Finishing stuff gives you fuel to move to the next idea, and allows to draw right conclusions by analyzing the full cycle. Publish your work on the web, give other people a functioning product, not just a bunch of scrap and a github repo link. Receive recognition, push your goal bar higher, and move on.
Sunday, December 8, 2013
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Quest for the best scene format
A graphics engine needs to know how to compose a scene from a given set of resources, such as: meshes, skeletons, and textures. This is what scene file is for - it's a document that describes relationship between basic resources, joining them into a system that can be effectively processed by the code. This file is composed either by hand (if the scene is small), or by the exporter script from a 3D modelling program. During the evolution of KRI engine the scene format changed several times. I'll try to review the development history and analyze various formats I used, based on the personal experience.
Lang: C++
Pros:
-no export stage
-no need to validate
-no parsing
Cons:
-non extensible
Lang: Boo
Pros:
-no external libs
-fast parsing
Cons:
-non human-readable -> difficult to debug
-difficult to validate
-resources are not separate
Lang: Dart, XML
Pros:
-built-in validation with Schema
-support for default values
Cons:
-need to keep Schema synchronized with exporter/loader
-too verbose
-bloated loading code (no 1:1 data representation)
-not clear what to put into attributes -> design ambiguity
Lang: Rust, JSON
Pros:
Cons:
-no heterogeneous structures -> difficult to read
From there I started looking for something like JSON but to describe the document instead of the data. I looked into YAML, which seemed nice, a bit more complex, and not supported by Rust. Then I found Candle Object Notation, which seemed like a non-ambiguous and compact version of XML, plus the 1:1 mapping to data. However, the format is not that well documented and supported... "It would be nice to have the same object initialization syntax as Rust" - I thought when this idea hit me like a train: why not use Rust then?
Lang: Rust
Pros:
-free validation (your code is the spec)
-no run-time parsing -> instant loading, no run-time errors
-no need to learn new syntax
-compact (no external file needed to run)
Cons:
-need to compile the scene
-bound to the language
This approach seems to be the perfect solution for my scene format. The only thing that worries me is that it depends on Rust compile times. Though, we can still parse Rust code at run time, if we want, while still verifying it at compile time. You can see an actual export result here. It is compact, easy to read, and elegant.
0. Composed in code: kri-1, kri-2
This is where we all start: just slapping entities on the screen directly.Lang: C++
Pros:
-no export stage
-no need to validate
-no parsing
Cons:
-non extensible
1. Custom binary: kri-3
All scene data and resources were stored in a single binary file of a custom format.Lang: Boo
Pros:
-no external libs
-fast parsing
Cons:
-non human-readable -> difficult to debug
-difficult to validate
-resources are not separate
2. XML: kri-web
XML is a well-known document format, it has the greatest language/tool support. Besides, that's what we used at my former employer company.Lang: Dart, XML
Pros:
-built-in validation with Schema
-support for default values
Cons:
-need to keep Schema synchronized with exporter/loader
-too verbose
-bloated loading code (no 1:1 data representation)
-not clear what to put into attributes -> design ambiguity
3. JSON: claymore-engine
This is where I discovered JSON, and it immediately appealed to me because of the simple syntax and its 1:1 reflection with the data. Fortunately, this is the only format Rust had a built-in support for. However, it turned out to be a poor choice for the scene description due to the lack of heterogeneous structures.Lang: Rust, JSON
Pros:
Cons:
-no heterogeneous structures -> difficult to read
From there I started looking for something like JSON but to describe the document instead of the data. I looked into YAML, which seemed nice, a bit more complex, and not supported by Rust. Then I found Candle Object Notation, which seemed like a non-ambiguous and compact version of XML, plus the 1:1 mapping to data. However, the format is not that well documented and supported... "It would be nice to have the same object initialization syntax as Rust" - I thought when this idea hit me like a train: why not use Rust then?
4. Rust: k-engine
Let's just export a rust source file, which will be compiled with the application.Lang: Rust
Pros:
-free validation (your code is the spec)
-no run-time parsing -> instant loading, no run-time errors
-no need to learn new syntax
-compact (no external file needed to run)
Cons:
-need to compile the scene
-bound to the language
This approach seems to be the perfect solution for my scene format. The only thing that worries me is that it depends on Rust compile times. Though, we can still parse Rust code at run time, if we want, while still verifying it at compile time. You can see an actual export result here. It is compact, easy to read, and elegant.
Saturday, January 5, 2013
My Internet
I've been accustomed to the Internet as we know it: fire up a browser, read email, feeds, visit FB/G+/Twitter, buy something on Amazon with a Visa card. It is indeed convenient, especially if you don't care to look under the hood, or explore the limits of your freedom. And the fact is: there are big companies there (providers of "free" services) that gather all information about you.
One of the ways to use that information is to chose the advertising that you'll see. Honestly, I don't care about ads too much. Most of the time I block them anyway, and when I see them - I'll appreciate a featured anime figure more than some silly pills. But ads are just the tip of the iceberg, the only part of it we actually see. The real problem is the power you give them, the power that limits your potential, because no one cares about your weird habits until you become big.
In an ideal society, everyone can know everything about everyone. But we, as a species, are not ideal, thus making it a matter of protection to choose what information to share, and what to hide. Once your information can be bought, you never know who and when may turn it against you. Imagine a robber aware of your vacation schedule. The security question stands right near the privacy one. Your information is stored in a centralized manner: it could be denied of service, or it could be stolen - it's vulnerabile.
Now, how do we work around that, while still keeping it simple and convenient? There are several solutions for different sub-issues:
DNS. Generally provided by your ISP, thus may have some areas blocked (i.e. Wikileaks). They know wherever you go, and also redirect the "address not found" queries.
Solution: OpenNIC, any neutral DNS like Google DNS
File sharing. Exchanging music, books, and movies is prosecuted by RIAA & MPAA, even if you give it to your friend and delete it locally. They want you to rent things for an undefined period instead of owning them.
Solution: Torrent, private hosting if you can afford it.
Social network. This is where you expose the most of yourself. You need to preserve the rights to the content you create, and to share it only with those you care.
Solution: Disapora*.
Money transfer. Your Visa/AMEX/Mastercard knows everything you buy, everywhere you travel, and steals around 3% for each transaction. Also, you never know when your government decides to print more money, making whatever you have less valuable instantly.
Solution: Bitcoin.
Those solutions will only become valid once they gain a critical mass of users. I hope that my post aids this goal a little, making Internet a better place in the nearest future.
One of the ways to use that information is to chose the advertising that you'll see. Honestly, I don't care about ads too much. Most of the time I block them anyway, and when I see them - I'll appreciate a featured anime figure more than some silly pills. But ads are just the tip of the iceberg, the only part of it we actually see. The real problem is the power you give them, the power that limits your potential, because no one cares about your weird habits until you become big.
In an ideal society, everyone can know everything about everyone. But we, as a species, are not ideal, thus making it a matter of protection to choose what information to share, and what to hide. Once your information can be bought, you never know who and when may turn it against you. Imagine a robber aware of your vacation schedule. The security question stands right near the privacy one. Your information is stored in a centralized manner: it could be denied of service, or it could be stolen - it's vulnerabile.
Now, how do we work around that, while still keeping it simple and convenient? There are several solutions for different sub-issues:
DNS. Generally provided by your ISP, thus may have some areas blocked (i.e. Wikileaks). They know wherever you go, and also redirect the "address not found" queries.
Solution: OpenNIC, any neutral DNS like Google DNS
File sharing. Exchanging music, books, and movies is prosecuted by RIAA & MPAA, even if you give it to your friend and delete it locally. They want you to rent things for an undefined period instead of owning them.
Solution: Torrent, private hosting if you can afford it.
Social network. This is where you expose the most of yourself. You need to preserve the rights to the content you create, and to share it only with those you care.
Solution: Disapora*.
Money transfer. Your Visa/AMEX/Mastercard knows everything you buy, everywhere you travel, and steals around 3% for each transaction. Also, you never know when your government decides to print more money, making whatever you have less valuable instantly.
Solution: Bitcoin.
Those solutions will only become valid once they gain a critical mass of users. I hope that my post aids this goal a little, making Internet a better place in the nearest future.
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