Posts

POETS Project 2018-09-19

I’ve started a new job at the University of Southampton has a postdoctoral researcher in the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences. I’m currently working on the POETS project; for more information, see my updated about page.

Presentation: Python testing with pytest 2017-11-20

I’m holding a talk at the University of Southampton on testing Python software with pytest (http://pytest.org). After motivating the use of testing in software development, pytest is introduced using simple examples. I then explain some less-common, yet useful features of pytest, and relate these features to uses in academia. For more information about the talk, visit the Southampton Python user group page at https://southampton-python.github.io/.

If you are interested in talking testing, Python or otherwise, feel free to come along. The talk is at 1800-1930 on Wednesday 29th at the University of Southampton, Building 6 (Nuffield Theatre), Room 1081.

Why is this website so basic? 2017-10-08

A growing trend in the web development industry is to attach as many dynamic objects, bells, and whistles to your website as possible, because apparently the average user is more likely to stick around when you use flashy sliding menu-bars. Against conventional wisdom, I thought I’d try to create a minimal website, while still trying to get across the core message of each post, and without sacrificing style and elegance.

So, why is this website so basic? What are the advantages?

• Everyone can read it, so long as they have a web browser and an Internet connection (try it with a text-based browser!)

• I can create and maintain it with minimal effort and skill, and I can fix it if I break something later.

• To prove that website creation can be simple if you’re willing to open a terminal.

• It loads quickly (hopefully you noticed this).

On this website, you will find no comment sections, text that fades in, and definitely no flashy sliding menu-bars. Just simple text, images, and style. I hope that this simplicity impacts you and your future design endeavours positively!

If you find a problem, have a recommendation for this site, wish to leave feedback, or discuss with others, contact me via Twitter or GitHub. If you want to create a simple static site like this one, I recommend the static-site generator Jekyll, with GitHub’s page builder. To see exactly how I’ve done it, check out my source on GitHub. The idea of designing a website like this was inspired by txti and suckless.org’s post on the state of the web (strong language). The style of this website was also inspired by Jekyll.