Binary Search I know, the word binary screams binary tree. But no, binary search doesn’t require a tree at all. It’s usually implemented in an array. In Go, we can simply use a slice to do this. Note that a binary search can only be performed on a sorted array. The generic signature [S ~[]E,… Continue reading Binary Search in Go
Copying slices in Go
As we know, Go slices hover on top of fixed arrays; modifying elements in a slice also modifies the underlying array. In some scenarios, that’s unacceptable. Hence, we need slice copying! 1. Use slices.Clone slices.Clone is available from Go 1.21 onward. What’s cool about it is that it takes care of the pre-allocation of space… Continue reading Copying slices in Go
Stack & Queue in Go
1. Stack This is your good ol’ LIFO (last-in, first-out) structure. Just imagine a Pringles tube. A basic stack should have the following methods: In Go, you can use a slice as the underlying data structure. Notice how initiating the store slice in the NewStack[T any]() constructor is optional? This is because we have enough… Continue reading Stack & Queue in Go
Sorting a slice in Go easily
1. The slice Package If your Go package is anything newer than 1.21, and the items in the slice are of the cmp.Ordered type, you should definitely use the slice.Sort() function. It only works if you intend to sort it in place and in ascending order, though. So if we want to sort something in… Continue reading Sorting a slice in Go easily
Frequency map in Go
A frequency map is just a fancy word for a hash map that tracks the number of occurrences of an element in a collection. If we have a slice in Go and we want to know exactly how many times each element in the slice occurs in the slice, we can build a frequency map… Continue reading Frequency map in Go
Map-as-Set in Go
In programming languages like Go, there is no built-in type for set. A set essentially answers yes or no: is a given element present? We can use the built-in map type to implement sets. I used to implement map-as-set like this: Apparently, Gemini thinks there’s a better way: Gemini thinks this is better because it… Continue reading Map-as-Set in Go
KompacPlus
KompacPlus is marketed as a counter top material, and sometimes wall material. The sellers often claim it’s comparable to quartz and sintered stone. KompacPlus is made in Italy, but only sold in Singapore and Malaysia. It’s essentially “made from layers of resin-soaked kraft paper” and compressed with extremely high heat and pressure. It’s non-porous, somewhat… Continue reading KompacPlus
Let’s Encrypt! certificate always expires
Update (October 2026): While the manual command below still works, it’s actually outdated! Modern Certbot installations handle renewals automatically via background systemd timers. If your certificate is still expiring, your background timer might be broken. Run: to test the automation instead of SSHing in every 3 months. Original post: I usually don’t SSH into the… Continue reading Let’s Encrypt! certificate always expires
Interface implementation in Go is implicit
I’m quite familiar with the concept of interface in Java; but on my first day reading my colleague’s Go code, I was a little confused. Here’s how: In Java, implementing an interface is explicitly declared with the keyword implements, followed by the names of the interfaces being implemented. For example: By looking at the class… Continue reading Interface implementation in Go is implicit
Best MySQL data types for storing date & time
When it comes to storing date/time in MySQL, several data types are commonly used. My colleagues and I had a brief discussion today on which type we should use for storing created and last updated date/time. Folks were divided into two camps. Those who preferred to work directly with UNIX timestamp wanted bigint, while people… Continue reading Best MySQL data types for storing date & time