Obligatory mission statement

Cutting edge, c.800 AD

"Tatoeba" (例えば, pronounced ta-to-ay-ba) is a Japanese word meaning "for example." The purpose of this blog is to demonstrate the principles of effective and clear technical communication, using canonical examples of code. It's not meant to be a razor-sharp cutting edge font of the latest coding techniques--I'd be the wrong person to impart that wisdom, though I have no shortage of strong opinions on what constitutes good technical writing.

Do come up and see my snippets!

I got the idea to create this blog from a good friend who started posting snippets and examples from his own projects--whatever happened to interest him at the time--on his excellent blog, TravelMarx (shameless plug). He recognized the problem with relying on writing samples that are published online: they don't belong to you, so they can be (and usually are) subsequently updated. In extreme cases, they don't much resemble what you wrote. Of course you can always save a portfolio of writing samples, but referring people to your work online is la nouvelle mode.

Because it also serves as a portfolio of technical content I've written, this blog will contain code in the languages with which I'm familiar: C++, C#, and Javascript.