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This is part 4 of my series on pipelined analytics language choices. In this part, we will run performance benchmarks of the file crawler programs and then conclude the series. Here is the outline of the entire series:

1. Introduction
2. Commentary on the Python and Java implementations
3. Commentary on the Go …

This is part 2 of my series on pipelined analytics language choices. In this part, we will look in more detail at Python and Java. Here is the outline of the entire series:

1. Introduction
2. Commentary on the Python and Java implementations (this post)
3. Commentary on the Go and OCaml implementations …

At my startup, we do a lot of "pipelined analytics" — gathering and processing of data across multiple processes over multiple stages. Our current system uses Python, with some C extensions. We've been asked in the past, "Why Python?" The answer is partly developer productivity and partly the nature of the …

In part 1, we looked at a math problem found in my 3rd grade son's homework. We can formally state the stamps problem as:

Given a goal postage value V and a set of available stamp values S, find a multiset of stamps C = {c:sub:1, c₂, ... c …

From time to time, my son will ask for help when he gets stuck on a math homework problem. Usually, it is pretty straightforward, and I can clear up any conceptual difficulties right away. Occasionally, I'm left wondering what they really expect from elementary school kids.

Last spring, my son …