iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Tiantian Ma @matianti.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

For @johnguerra.bsky.social's @northeasternu.bsky.social #ProgramDesignParadigms class, I built an app called BalanceBoard - it helps you log your activities, energy, and emotions, then visualizes how they relate; like a self-reflection assistant. Try it out: observablehq.com/@tian5252/ba...

observablehq.com

BalanceBoard

Documentation 1. What it does BalanceBoard is an application that allows users to log their engagement level, energy level, and emotions associated with an activity. Users can also add new activity re...

000

Tiantian Ma @matianti.bsky.social · 16/04/2025

Reactivity in Observable notebooks is kind of similar to Makefiles: cell values update based on dependencies, but more automatic. You see visualized results immediately, but also the wrong ones. Forces you to write clean code, or crash visibly. #ProgrammingParadigms @northeasternu.bsky.social

000

Tiantian Ma @matianti.bsky.social · 08/04/2025

The classic Rails demo shows how it uses templates to auto-generate controller, model, and view files - setting up MVC instantly. The framework feels declarative. With little code, one can build a lot of functionality. It still feels like magic today. #ProgrammingParadigms @northeasternu.bsky.social

020

Tiantian Ma @matianti.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

HTTP vs WebSocket is like texting vs calling. HTTP sends messages and waits at a time, while WebSocket enables real-time bi-directional talks. But WebSocket first connects via HTTP that upgrades to WebSocket, like texting "Let's talk" before a call. #ProgrammingParadigms @northeasternu.bsky.social

000

Tiantian Ma @matianti.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

One challenge in programming is the risk of regressing existing bugs when developing new features. With TDD, the existing test suite serves as a safety net, helping catch regressions early and reducing the risk of last-minute surprises in testing! #ProgrammingParadigms @northeasternu.bsky.social

000

Tiantian Ma @matianti.bsky.social · 19/03/2025

Jest is a testing tool that works across many JavaScript environments, but it’s not a panacea. When using it with ESLint, don’t forget to import Jest’s global helpers or configure the ESLint environment ahead. A small setup makes all the difference! #ProgrammingParadigms @northeasternu.bsky.social

000

Tiantian Ma @matianti.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

The communication of shared workers in JavaScript is like a transport layer protocol in networking: it uses ports (MessagePort) to enable messaging between the main script and the worker with multiple connected scripts (like different processes). #ProgrammingParadigms @northeasternu.bsky.social

010

Tiantian Ma @matianti.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

JavaScript: Promises are great for avoiding callback hell and support chaining, but .then() always hands me another Promise. await, on the other hand, feels more like synchronous code and lets me access the actual data directly. Prefer it now! #ProgrammingParadigms @northeasternu.bsky.social

020

Tiantian Ma @matianti.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

Asynchronous programming in JavaScript is like multi-threaded programming in C - but without threads 🤔. With ’Promise‘ implementation, 'then' brings success, and 'catch' handles failure. Straightaway! #ProgrammingParadigms @northeasternu.bsky.social

000

Tiantian Ma @matianti.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

To achieve purity, functional programming use more memory and sacrifice some performance. In return? More deterministic results. Compared to OOP, which excels in modularization, I think functional programming's strength lies in making debugging easier #ProgrammingParadigms @northeasternu.bsky.social

010

Tiantian Ma @matianti.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

/** * What I learned about JSDoc (with JSDoc documention) * @param {string} msg - a note from me * @return {void} */ function learn(msg) { console.log(`I learn: ${msg}`); } learn("Using JSDoc makes JavaScript feel a bit more strongly typed"); #ProgrammingParadigms @northeasternu.bsky.social

020

Tiantian Ma @matianti.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

Does a UML diagram help with refactoring? Not really. Refactoring requires examining the code to reduce redundancy. But does refactoring result in a better UML diagram? Yes! A good refactor leads to a clearer UML with more fields in the abstract class #ProgrammingParadigms @northeasternu.bsky.social

000

Tiantian Ma @matianti.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Building a 3D scene in browser with Three.js is like an ad shoot: 1. Set the stage with a Scene and place the objects 2. Pick a wonderful angle with a Camera 3. Finally, produce the picture with a Renderer Declarative, and see it instantly with Vite! #ProgrammingParadigms @northeasternu.bsky.social

000

Tiantian Ma @matianti.bsky.social · 15/01/2025

JavaScript handles OOP inheritance with prototype chain, which is conceptually like a linked list. Using a property? It’s like asking each person in a line from the beginning, 'Hi, are you X?🙋' until you find one, or hit the end of the line. #ProgrammingParadigms @northeasternu.bsky.social

040