Dan Dyer Software Developer
I am a software developer based in Kent in the UK with over 20 years of professional experience. Since 2010 I have worked via my own company, Rectangular Software, providing development services primarily for iOS and Android native mobile app projects as well as Django/Python web applications. Previously I wrote lots of Java. I'm also interested in evolutionary computation, AI and functional programming.
Open Source Software
These are some of the more interesting/useful Open Source projects I've developed. You can find others at GitHub.
Watchmaker Framework
A Java framework for implementing evolutionary/genetic algorithms.Uncommons Maths
Java random number generators, probability distributions, combinatorics and statistics.Zeitgeist
Intelligent RSS news aggregator that groups articles from multiple sources.Anorak
A Haskell application for generating HTML football league tables and statistics.Software Development Articles
Here is some of the more worthwhile content salvaged from my long dormant and mostly out-dated software development blog.
Practical Evolutionary Computation
- Introduction to Evolutionary Computation
- An introduction to the basic idea of evolutionary algorithms.
- Implementing Evolution in Java
- How to implement evolutionary algorithms in Java using the Watchmaker Framework.
- Elitism
- How to improve the efficiency of your evolutionary algorithms by using elitism.
- Island Models
- Advanced evolutionary algorithms using island models to partition the search space.
Random Numbers in Java
- Beyond java.util.Random
- Better, faster, more secure random number generators.
- Probability Distributions
- Uniform, normal, binomial, Poisson and exponential distributions and when to use them.
- Seeding
- RNG seeding considerations.
- RNGs: There should be only one
- The pitfalls of using multiple random number generators.
Miscellaneous Rants
- Understanding PHP
- Some people can write effective software in PHP. Still doesn't make it a good idea.
- Your code is not so great that it doesn't need comments
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Timeless advice.
- Eat, Sleep and Drink Software Development
- Sleep deprivation and caffeine vs. productivity.
- Optimising Computer Programs for Performance
- Universal principles of optimisation.
- Visual SourceSafe: A Public Service Announcement
- Surely nobody still uses SourceSafe?
Genealogy
Several years ago I started researching my family tree — an ongoing and never-ending project. This list of relevant surnames and associated places — almost entirely in England and Ireland — may be of interest to others investigating the same families (contact me via the email link at the top of that page if you'd like to access the information I have or if you have further information to share).
Touch
Outdoors I play and referee the sport of Touch — a fast-paced, minimal-contact version of rugby — I play at Invicta Touch and have represented the South East region and the England men's 40s national team.