Michael’s New Spinoff Blog!

Hello readers,

It’s Michael, and I’ve got a super cool blog announcement for you all! I know you all wanted some more neural network/AI content, but please here me out here!

So as most of you know, I launched this blog on June 13, 2018, which means that I’ve been keeping up this blog for almost five years now. Through the course of writing 140 blog posts, I thought it would be time to expand the Michael’s Programming Bytes brand.

You may be wondering, how do I plan to expand my brand? Well, I figured that today, April 1, 2023, would be the perfect day to announce my very-first spinoff blog-Michael’s Poetic Programming Bytes! Yes, I thought I’d combine all the fun of coding with the simple creative joy of poetry.

What can you, the readers, expect from my first foray into creative writing? Well, we’ve got odes to the joy of coding:

Oh, joy of programming, how sweet your song,
With every keystroke, we dance along.
A world of code at our fingertips,
Endless possibilities, endless trips.

With loops and functions, we craft our art,
A symphony of logic, a work of heart.
Each line a brushstroke, each file a canvas,
We paint our dreams with logic and balance.

The bugs may bite, the code may crash,
But we rise above and make a dash.
To debug and fix, to learn and grow,
And create a masterpiece, a thing of flow.

Oh, joy of programming, you bring us delight,
A world of creation, a world of might.
We tinker and play, we solve and code,
And with each project, we find our abode.

So let us embrace this world of code,
And let our imaginations be bestowed.
With the joy of programming, we can create,
A world of wonder, a world of fate.

Haikus for those who enjoy this form of poetry, like this one about COBOL:

Legacy language,
COBOL endures through the years,
Business still needs it.

Looking for a fun way to learn about basic coding concepts? Michael’s Poetic Programming Bytes has content for that, like this Shakespearan sonnet explaining the concept of object-oriented programming:

Oh, wondrous world of code, how strange thy ways,
Wherein doth dwell the art of programming,
And rules of logic shape the programmer's days,
While algorithms bring life to every thing.

And yet, there lies a path less traveled by,
A new approach to programming art sublime,
Where objects are the stars that light the sky,
And classes, their domains, rule space and time.

Behold, the paradigm that we call OOP,
Where objects are defined by their attributes,
And methods grant them power, this we do see,
As they perform actions and execute.

Thus, OOP is a world of boundless creation,
Where objects reign supreme, in this new nation.

Or, if you want something a little more modern, here’s a rap about about why you shouldn’t use star imports in Python:

(Intro)
Listen up, y'all, it's time to learn
'Bout Python code and what to discern
We talkin' star imports, don't you know
Why you shouldn't use 'em, I'll tell you so

(Verse 1)
Star imports may seem like a good choice
But let me tell you, it's not worth the noise
You import everything, all at once
But that's a recipe for a coding dunce

'Cause when you import, you want to be clear
What you need, and what you don't want near
But with star imports, it's all or none
And that's not the way to get it done

(Hook)
So don't use star imports, take your time
Import what you need, it's not a crime
Cleaner code, that's what you'll get
And that's the key, you can bet

(Verse 2)
Now let's talk about naming collisions
With star imports, you risk some divisions
Two modules with the same name
Now you got a problem, that's not a game

You gotta qualify the name, make it clear
Which module you want, or it won't adhere
And if you got a lot of imports, it's a mess
So don't use star imports, that's my address

(Hook)
So don't use star imports, take your time
Import what you need, it's not a crime
Cleaner code, that's what you'll get
And that's the key, you can bet

(Bridge)
Now you know the deal, you gotta be wise
Don't take shortcuts, that's not the prize
Clean code is what we strive for
So don't use star imports, that's the score

(Hook)
So don't use star imports, take your time
Import what you need, it's not a crime
Cleaner code, that's what you'll get
And that's the key, you can bet

(Outro)
Yeah, that's right, don't use star imports
Import what you need, that's the report
Clean code, that's the goal
And with Python, you're in control!

I don’t know about you, but I think that’s a good hook!

Feeling a little nostalgic for your favorite old software? We’ve got poems for that too, like this one mourning the loss and remembering the life of Python 2 (which was retired in 2020):

Oh Python 2, we bid thee farewell
With heavy hearts and a mournful knell
For all the years we spent with thee
Were filled with joy and camaraderie

But now the time has come to part
And let Python 2 depart
For though we loved thee to the end
It's time for Python 3 to ascend

Oh how we'll miss thy simple ways
Thy elegance and thy concise phrase
But now we must embrace the new
And bid thee fond adieu

So let us honor thee this day
And remember all the fun we had along the way
We'll miss thee dearly, that much is true
But in our hearts, we'll always remember Python 2.

Michael’s Poetic Programmic Bytes will not only allow you to mourn the losses of your favorite programming tools, but also any piece of software that was near and dear to your heart, like this farewell tribute to Club Penguin (of which I never got into):

Dear Club Penguin, the time has come
To say goodbye, our hearts are numb
We'll miss the island and the snow
And all the friends we've come to know

For years we've waddled on your shores
Played mini-games and explored
Dressed up in our penguin clothes
And danced in clubs with puffle bows

You gave us endless hours of fun
And taught us lessons, one by one
To always be kind and to share
And help others, to show we care

We'll miss your parties and your quests
And all the joy that you expressed
But as we say our last goodbye
We'll keep your memory alive

So thank you Club Penguin, for it all
For the laughter and the thrill
We'll never forget the love we felt
For you, and always will.

Last but certainly not least, this blog will allow you to submit your own programming-themed poems that I’d love to showcase, such as this one on the joys of HTML written by a first-grader:

HTML, oh HTML,
You make websites so pretty,
With colors and pictures and text,
You make the internet look so witty!

I love how you make things bold,
And add links to click and see,
It's so cool to make a webpage,
With you, it's easy as can be!

Sometimes I forget a tag,
And my page looks kinda funny,
But I know I can always fix it,
And make my site look sunny!

HTML, oh HTML,
You're my favorite thing to code,
I'll keep making webpages with you,
And sharing them all over the globe!

Or this gem from a 60-year-old celebrating the life of dial-up Internet:

Dial-up, oh dial-up,
You were slow but steady,
You brought the world to our fingertips,
And made us feel so heady.

With your hissing and buzzing sounds,
And the beeps that signaled our connection,
We knew we were in for a wait,
But we savored every moment of your affection.

You were our gateway to the internet,
A time when things were simpler,
We couldn't stream or download much,
But you gave us the world on a platter.

I remember waiting for pages to load,
And watching as images took shape,
It was a different time, a slower time,
But one that we embraced.

Now we have fiber and Wi-Fi,
And we can stream without a hitch,
But I'll always remember dial-up,
And the way you made us rich.

Dial-up, oh dial-up,
You may be a relic of the past,
But your memory lives on in our hearts,
A time that will always last.

Wow-that’s a beautifully written tribute to the joys of dial-up internet (hey, I’m just 27 and still recall the dial-up days).

So if you’re ever in the mood to learn basic coding concepts or just pay homage to your favorite programming tools or software (ahem Club Penguin fans), then you’ll definitely enjoy Michael’s Poetic Programming Bytes with a whole library of poems that were certainly not spit out of an AI chatbot.

More details on this expansion of the Michael’s Programming Bytes brand to come, and also,

Will this be a new Michael’s Programming Bytes tradition? Time will tell.

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