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This article explores securing data using keyed hashing in Python.

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Data authentication

Suppose Alice, a computer programmer, wants to secure the data of a document management system. The system currently stores each new document with a hash value. To verify the integrity of a document the system rehashes it and compares the new hash value to the old hash value. If the hash values don’t match, the document is considered corrupt. If the hash values do match, the document is considered intact.

Alice’s system effectively…

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This article delves into how to make really memorable and secure passwords — with Python!

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It’s not easy to create passwords that are both difficult to guess and easy to remember. An XKCD comic (https://xkcd.com/936/) describes an algorithm which provides both security and recall by suggesting that a password be composed of “four random common words.” …

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A domain-specific language is a software language that allows domain experts to capture their knowledge in a precise enough way to make that executable.

The following article is a standalone excerpt from the opening chapter of my book Domain-Specific Languages Made Easy for Manning Publications. This book is going to be available spring 2021, but is already part of the Manning Early Access Program (MEAP). You can take 40% off by entering fccboersma into the discount code box at checkout at manning.com.

This article contains ideas, excerpts, and material from chapter 1: “What is a Domain-Specific Language?”

The book focuses…

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This article shows you how to extract the meaningful bits of information from raw text and how to identify their roles. Let’s first look into why identifying roles is important.

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Understanding word types

The first fact to notice is that there‘s a conceptual difference between the bits of the expression like “[Harry] [met] [Sally]”: “Harry” and “Sally” both refer to people participating in the event, and “met” represents an action. When we humans read text like this, we subconsciously determine the roles…

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In this article we will explain what web APIs are. You will learn that a web API is a specific instance of the more general concept of Application Programming Interface (API). It is important to understand that an API is just a layer on top of an application, and that there are many different types of interfaces.

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Let’s begin by defining what exactly an API is, and then we will move on to explaining the defining features of a well implemented…

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In this article, you’ll learn how to use Node and Jest to test code written to run in a browser.

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Baking in a professional kitchen is quite different from baking at home. At home, you won’t always have all the unique ingredients you would find on a chef’s shelves. You probably won’t have the same fancy appliances, or the same impeccable kitchen. Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean you can’t bake excellent desserts. You’ve just got to adapt.

Similarly, running JavaScript in a browser…

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This article delves into the PROPERTY INJECTION DI pattern — what it is and how, when, and why to use it.

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How do we enable DI as an option in a class when we have a good Local Default?

By exposing a writable property that lets callers supply a DEPENDENCY if they want to override the default behavior.

Listing 1. Injecting a DEPENDENCY using PROPERTY INJECTION

public class Consumer
 {
     public IDependency Dependency { get; set; } ❶
         = new DefaultImplementation();          ❷
  
     public void DoSomething()                   ❸
     {
         this.Dependency.DoStuff();
     }
 }

❶ Public property allows setting a…