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HSA For Developers: Heterogeneous Computing For The Masses
HSA is a set of standards and specifications designed to allow further integration of CPUs and GPUs on the same bus. This is not an entirely new concept, but HSA takes it to the next level. HSA would effectively take the developer out of the equation, at least when it comes to assigning different loads to different processing cores.
In this post, Toptal Technical Editor and resident chip geek Nermin Hajdarbegovic takes a closer look at HSA and the future of heterogeneous computing in general. Get ready for some good news, but don’t forget to brace for bad news first.
Nermin Hajdarbegovic
As a veteran tech writer, Nermin helped create online publications covering everything from the semiconductor industry to cryptocurrency.
Getting Started with the Elixir Programming Language
Elixir, a dynamic, functional programming language, is designed for building scalable and maintainable applications with a simple, modern, and tidy syntax. Although it is easy to understand, Elixir’s approach to concurrency and its data type nuances require some getting used to.
In this article, Toptal engineer Kleber Virgilio Correia gives us a comprehensive guide to the various basic data types in that are available in Elixir.
Kleber Virgilio Correia
Kleber’s long professional experience has covered Unix, Agile, functional and OOP languages, REST APIs, distributed apps, and the cloud.
Handling Intensive Tasks with Laravel
When dealing with time consuming, resource intensive tasks, most PHP developers are tempted to choose the “quick hack route”. We’ve all used “ini_set(‘max_execution_time’, HUGE_INT);” before, but it doesn’t have to be this way.
In today’s tutorial, PHP developer Daniel Gheorghe demonstrates how an application’s user experience may be improved by separating long-running tasks from the main request flow using Laravel.
Daniel Gheorghe
Daniel is a Zend Certified PHP Engineer with 10+ years of experience as the lead PHP developer for multiple companies around the world.
Toptal's Quick and Practical CSS Cheat Sheet
As software engineers, we’re always searching for the best tools and guides that will help us to be more productive while spending less time searching and reading long technical specifications.
Today, Toptal is pleased to present an entirely new resource to the community as a free download: a CSS Cheat Sheet. Toptal’s CSS Cheat Sheet is a quick CSS reference guide, and includes CSS syntax, the most important selectors, properties, sizes, and units, and other useful CSS details, all in a short, easily understandable format.
Tomislav Bacinger
Tomislav (MSc) has spent more than 15 years in full-stack development and data analysis, but geospatial visualizations are his favorite.
Rethinking Authentication And Biometric Security, The Toptal Way
How does one secure a vast, distributed network of tech talent? There are three ways of doing this: the right way, the wrong way, and the Toptal way. Today, we will be discussing the latter, and unveiling our plans for a comprehensive overhaul of our onboarding and authentication procedures.
In this post, Toptal Technical Editor Nermin Hajdarbegovic will help you get acquainted with our brand new processes. Since all Toptalers will be required to use our new security platform, we encourage you to comment and contribute to our efforts.
Nermin Hajdarbegovic
As a veteran tech writer, Nermin helped create online publications covering everything from the semiconductor industry to cryptocurrency.
Mastering 2D Cameras in Unity: A Tutorial for Game Developers
Camera systems are very important in conveying the right atmosphere in video games. When developing games, even 2D ones, advanced cameras should be your tool of choice.
In this article, Toptal engineer Mihai Cozma shows us how to build a modular camera system for 2D platform games using some simple components in Unity that can be easily extended to 2.5D or even 3D games.
Mihai Cozma
Mihai has 11+ years of professional experience with various technologies and tools. He is proficient at C/ C++, .NET, and Unity 3D.
The 9 Most Common Mistakes That Ionic Developers Make
Ionic is extremely popular at the moment, and it has revolutionized the hybrid application industry in a way that nobody could have imagined. However, over time, the best practices and tooling for Ionic have not progressed in the same way. As a result, the number of pitfalls that developers need to look out for when working with Ionic is still high.
In this article, Toptal Freelance Software Engineer Julien Renaux outlines the most common mistakes that Ionic developers should know.
Julien Renaux
Scrum Master Julien (MCS) is a front-end mobile dev who’s worked for startups and enterprises like eBay, and even the French space agency.
How to Create a Simple Python WebSocket Server Using Tornado
The threaded model and global interpreter lock has always been in the way of Python handling thousands of concurrent long-lived connections. Modern web frameworks, such as Tornado, use non-blocking network I/O to make Python feasible for implementing WebSocket servers.
In this article, Toptal engineer Jongwook Kim walks us through the process of implementing a simple WebSocket-based web application in Python using the Tornado web framework.
Jongwook Kim
Jongwook has 12+ years of experience developing simple and robust software that delivers value to customers.
Top 10 Front-end Design Principles for Developers
Truly understanding design is easier said than done. Coding and aesthetic design require very different skill sets, which is why some front-end developers aren’t as proficient in design as they could be, and the quality of their work suffers for it.
In this post, Toptal Freelance Software Engineer Bryan Grezeszak explains why good front-end developers have to follow essential design principles down to the pixel, and should regularly seek out advice and feedback from their designers.
Bryan Grezeszak
Bryan is a front-end specialist with over a decade of experience, a JavaScript master and a pixel-perfect builder of interactive experience.
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