nitishupreti

[nitishupreti]

Free Fallin’

Another one of my favorite songs with beautiful lyrics...

The entire song: https://youtu.be/20Ov0cDPZy8

She's a good girl, loves her mama

Loves Jesus and America too

She's a good girl, crazy about Elvis

Loves horses and her boyfriend too

Yeah, yeah

It's a long day living in Reseda

There's a freeway running through the yard

I'm a bad boy 'cause I don't even miss her

I'm a bad boy for breaking her heart

And I'm free

Free fallin', fallin'

And I'm free

Free fallin', fallin'

All the vampires walking through the valley

They move west down Ventura Boulevard

And all the bad boys are standing in the shadows

And the good girls are home with broken hearts

And I'm free

Free fallin', fallin'

Now I'm free

Free fallin', fallin'

Free fallin', now I'm

Free fallin', now I'm

Free fallin', now I'm

Free fallin', now I'm

Free fallin', now I'm

Free fallin', now I'm

Free fallin', now I'm

Free fallin'

I want to glide down over Mulholland

I want to write her, her name in the sky

I want to free fall out into nothing

Oh, I'm gonna leave this, this world for a while

Now I'm free

Free fallin', fallin'

Now I'm free

Free fallin', fallin'

Now I'm free

Free fallin', fallin'

Now I'm free

Free fallin', fallin'.

[nitishupreti]

Love these lyrics

Recently I fell in love with lyrics of this popular hindi/punjabi song. Specially these lines. If you never paid attention, just read and pause for a second. You will probably smile.

"Dil diyan gallan

Karaange roz roz beh ke

Akh naale akh nu mila ke

Dil diyan gallan

Karaange roz roz beh ke

Sacchiyan mohabbataan nibha ke."

Song here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zn85vEqHk4

[nitishupreti]

Lover’s Loop

Let's go dear, let's hike to the mountain top

It's a beautiful day to be out and about.

The country farms are calling us, with all their magestic charms.

Driving through the scenic northwest, bathing in Saturday sunshine.

A scenic hike through the rustic meadows,

Swaddled in a flower basket, walking the paradise.

Tranquil moment for wandering hearts,

In the melodious silence of the early hour.

This bed can strap you no more, this sickness will subside.

For the evil is feeble, puny to face your might.

Let's go dear, let's hike to the mountain top

It's a beautiful day for lovers atop.

[nitishupreti]

Realizing the intrinsic value of your creations.

Being prolific outside work and pursuing arts has always been my dream.

Overtime, I have realized that I need to overcome one major hurdle before I can come closer to achieving this aspiration. The hurdle is to “realize intrinsic value of the art I create”.

Here is an example : I can either chose to devote my time writing something or spend an extra hour doing office work (usually reading / writing code).

Many times, it is hard to chose writing something creative. Doing office work on the other hand is easy. There is a clear goal and valued output form the exercise. When pursuing art on the other hand, it is hard to realize if the time was actually spent doing something worthwhile.

Realizing that the ‘art’ I create has some personal value makes it easier. If not that, convincing oneself that just enjoying doing it and deriving satisfaction from the activity is more than enough to pursue it. 

[nitishupreti]

In Praise of Weekend

“For we are all prisoners of the daily grind with the weekend as our only savior.”                                                                                                         – Anonymous

(Image from : http://worldartsme.com)

This is a piece in the praise of weekend. An essay to pay homage, share the love for and contemplate on the deep meaning weekends hold in our lives. The author himself shares a special relationship with our beloved weekend. A mark of this very relationship is the essay itself, for it was written on a leisurely weekend. However, even with its very special place, most of us think of weekends as just a part of life’s motion.  So, what is the big fuss about you ask? Why not writing something more poignant, something along the lines of “in praise of mother nature”, or “in admiration of love”? (other than the ideas being overly exploited) Does the author simply hate his work and is looking for a vent? Is “praise of weekend” another elaborate facade for “praise of leisure”? This is for all the skeptic reader, who might be quick to judge the idea as overtly romanticized, for it explores all these burning questions and more.

An Ages Old Myth

Let us embark on a short mythological journey. The “God of Time” had two sons from his two wives (for the sake of this story let us call them wife X and Y). Worried that the X wife’s older son will inherit the throne, Y plotted and had a 5/7 and 2/7 split of the kingdom. As the readers would guess, the younger king with a sizable empire was not as loving to his people as the elder one with a smaller happier existence. Nevertheless, began the reign of workweek and weekend.

The Gravity of Weekend

Fast forward to the present and we get to the modern times. A world where weekdays go by in a haze. Not to discredit work completely, some of these days are indeed fun and exciting. Although to experience anything outside the realm of work, we wait patiently for the weekend. For our time during weekdays is not our own. To enjoy the “presence of nature” or “feel the long embrace of love”, to “build the foundation of our relationships” or “just lazing around”, requires a weekend.  It’s the time when we can go on long hikes, have a worthwhile conversation with our spouse and finally give a call to the distant parents. Live music and sports are experienced on the weekends. Our favorite TV Show seasons are binge-watched on Weekends. All of this makes weekends a source of everything “family and fun” we do individually and culturally together as a society. 

However, weekends are more than just leisure. Most of us buy our groceries on weekend (what could be more important than food?). Outstanding bills are paid on the weekends (imagine not paying your rent).  Religion steps in on Sunday with visits to god. The moral ground for humankind and our future generation might as well rest on the weekend.

Grappling with Reality

For many of us, transitioning in and out of weekends can be unpleasant. The workaholics loose a sense of purpose during the weekend. What is life outside of work? What should I be doing with all this free time? For others transitioning out of the weekend is a slow and painful experience. All of us are somewhat familiar with the dreaded Sunday night when it hits us that the weekend is all gone.

Hope

On the brighter side, this is not the end and there is always hope. Give it another workweek and the weekend will step back in. The anticipation for which can sometimes be even more rewarding. It also helps to think of all the less fortunate people in the world for whom a two day off in a week is nothing but a pipe dream. 

Ah, and that gets us to Vacations, the time when we step back for weeks at stretch to rejuvenate. Our treasured vacations that make up our life memories, and I have a sonnet in their praise.

[nitishupreti]

You and Me

We got to open the curtains

We got to be out and about

But here we are, tangled in bed

Just you and me together.

We got to pick up those phone calls

We got to meet our friends

But here we are, lost in each other

Just you and me together.

We got to be home in time

We go to do what's right

But here we are, dancing to music

Just you and me together.

We got to travel the world

We got to make it big

But here we are, crazy in love

Its just you and me forever.

[nitishupreti]

His flame

Bred with modest talents

Struggling with his frame

Small triumphs, bottomless defeats

Every day as a century unfolds.

Oh, but I never let it go

Oh, but I never cease to hope

Because my flame tells me so.

Leonardo is his father figure

Like diamond of coal

Grasping the grandeur

Dancing to the rhythm of beauty

And for a moment conjuring it all

No, he fails to glow

No, he falls from his throne.

Oh, but I never let it go

Oh, but I never cease to hope

Because my flame tells me so.

His small steps for the long journey

Will he make it to Rome?

Oh, but he never lets it go

Oh, but he never ceases to hope

His flame will march along.

[nitishupreti]

Perils of working in an engineering team with a super smart Dev lead.

Don't get me wrong, being part of a team with a super strong development lead is a privilege. Especially for fresh graduates / junior developers, it provides an opportunity to learn a lot technically ( programming / debugging / problem solving / design / testing etc..), building strong work ethic, learning effective communication across teams, managing managers, getting clarity in projects to list a few.

However, there are few subtle things you need to keep in mind when working with a super smart leads. 

Don‘t have your dev lead do the thinking for you.

Junior folks frequently get stuck on a problem and are guided by their leads and senior team members to unblock them. This is okay when you are new and ramping up, but don’t let this prevent you from thinking very hard about the problem.

A smart technical lead can shield you from complexity, but that might not be something you want.

Making changes in critical components require a lot of thought and battling complexity to figure out the correct solution. Making correct code change within a reasonable time frame can be hard for junior developers. You need to be able to consider all use case scenarios / corner cases before checking in code. A smart lead in this scenario will direct you, provide pointers and make your life easier. Again, this is okay when you are just starting up but in the long run you need to be able to build this skillset. 

Validating your design and code aka being confident about “what you ship”.

So you have a design / code change ready. Can you ship it and sleep peacefully at night? Are you more or less confident signing off on fellow team member’s code review? Learning these skills take time, but ensure that with every passing day you are making progress toward this goal. Eventually you need to build up skills to be self confident on your dev / test / review skills to signoff on code without consulting anyone.

~Fin~

[nitishupreti]

मेरी भूक की फिक्र ...

बचपन में शनिवार को

मेरा स्कूल जल्दी छूट जाता था

माँ डिग्री कॉलेज में पढ़ाती थी

तो शाम को चार - पाँच बजे तक ही घर आ पाती थी

माँ का प्यार और चिन्ता देखो

बेटा कहीं देर तक भूका ना रहे

इसलिए वो मुझे दो टिफ़िन दे दिया करती थी

“बारा बजे टिफ़िन खा लेना, बाकी जो मैंने फल और पराठे रखे है वो शाम को खाना”

कई बार वो फ्रिज (fridge) में खाना रख के जाती थी

पर उन्हें चिन्ता होती थी की कहीं बेटे को खाना नहीं मिला तो?

वो सुबह मुझे किचन में बुला कर दिखाती थी

“नित्तु , सब्जी यहाँ पड़ी है और दाल इस डब्बे में है”

कई बार वो पूछती थी, “तीन पराठों में हो जायेगा या और रखूं?“

माँ को चिन्ता होती थी की बेटा ज्यादा ठंडा पानी पी के बीमार ना हो जाये

तो वो एक बर्तन में गरम पानी रख के जाती थी

“बेटा पानी इसी बर्तन से ही पीना, शाम तक गुनगुना रहेगा”

फिर जब माँ कॉलेज से थक के आती थी, उस समय फिर पूछती थी

“पराठे ज्यादा ठन्डे तो नहीं हुए? जितनी सब्जी रक्खी थी उससे हो गया?”

छुटपन में कभी सोचा नहीं पर अब लगता है

मेरी भूक की माँ कितनी फिक्र किया करती थी |

[nitishupreti]

Musical Inertia

All of us who make a living as knowledge workers are painfully aware how context switching is mentally draining. I have personally many a times experienced physical discomfort when switching between tasks. I now have a name for it, “Thought Inertia”.

Recently while on a road trip to Mt. Rainier, we had a friend playing music in the car. He would alter between slow peaceful songs to sudden jarring party songs. Although I personally liked all songs individually, this sudden transition multiple times in a row was physically discomforting.

Most of us are subconsciously aware of it, but this time it was painfully obvious. It was a case of “Musical Inertia”. 

[nitishupreti]

Unique and Special

It was a Saturday evening in the winters, one of those days when the sun sets a little early for anyone to notice. For all I know and now remember, after an early dinner and a rather inconclusive movie, we were lazing on a sofa sipping some wine.

(Image credits : https://www.instagram.com/p/BJGZtPBAUEs/)

Being a poetic writer, and in all sincerity an unsuccessful one, I was then trying to find an idea to latch on to. However, all hope was not lost, as this time I knew I had it for good.

Me: “You know, what I am going to write about this time?”

Me(continuing): “I stumbled onto this powerful idea, something I have been thinking about for a while now.”

She: “If you have come up with it, it will be good for sure.”

Me: “Umm..yeah, I think it has potential. Honestly it took me a while to grasp it, but now I have it well internalized.”

In hindsight, I could not have been more wrong.

Me: “So it goes like this…”

I then paused a little trying to make sure I was emphasizing it enough.

Me: “All of us are unique but none of us is special.”

“We all like to believe that we are special. However, in the real world, we are all at best unique. Being unique, even though not as impressive as being special is still very powerful. It buys us the ability to contribute to this world in our way.”

As I finished sharing my insight, I knew I had articulated one the very mysteries of human nature. In all honestly, I was ready to bask in the glory of my ingenuity after delivering such an eloquent thought.

She: “But that is not true, you are very special for me.”

Her answer was enough to stupefy me. I then smiled and looked at her with eyes full of love, for I had missed out on the essence of life.

[nitishupreti]

Spanish Epiphany

Noticed that my favorite beer says "La Cerveza más fina", in english: "The finest beer". 😊

[nitishupreti]

Resumable Online Index Rebuild in SQL Server vNext

Today we officially announced Resumable Online Index Rebuild in SQL Server vNext CTP2.0. Sql Server is now the first commercial database to support fully resilient index rebuild operations. As an engineer, I spent entire last year working on this feature and cannot be more excited!

For more details visit the official docs here.

Feel free to tweet any questions you have around the feature to me @nitish and I will be happy to help.

[nitishupreti]

When you are dull

You kill time coz you have it all

You dig gold coz thats all you ever want

You sleep forever, the world will stall

When you are dull, the colors are all gone

Lazing king with telivision on

Midnight junkies, yes, thats you all

Twenty six years and nothing to show up for

When you are dull, the colors are all gone

No family & friends, your job is all you got

Why bother travelling, life here is good enough

Your opinions define facts for all

When you are dull, the colors are all gone

But I won't be so forever

For I am stepping out

I am free as the wind

I am pure as the snow

I am warm as the sun

I am shinning bright. ☀️

[nitishupreti]

While away in city

On the floor, with my thoughts

I am looking out for you

Its all Grey and Green

Time is slow dear city dweller

Oh, and my love is far fast asleep!

Travelled every nook and cranny

Crossed bridges and saw a show

The railroad sound enchanted me

There is this place you will love

Oh, and my love is far fast asleep!

While away in city, I saw a scene

While away in city, I took a sip

While away in city, I heard a note

While away in city, I moved an inch

Oh, and my love is is far fast asleep!

[nitishupreti]

Consumption Vs Creation

One of the ways I want to judge my personal success is by having a sense of “how much I consume” VS “how much I create”. The idea is to then tip the scale more on the side of “creation”.

For instance, music is something I love to consume. Code/Software is something I create as part of my job.

Some other interesting bits :

Not all creations are equal, they vary on the scale of “ingenuity”.

Not all creations can be directly consumed by the masses (music is for everyone but code is for engineers) and can have multiple level of indirections before being consumed by everyone.

The journey / goal : Even if it is something really small and insignificant in the grand scale of things, just keep creating. ❤

[nitishupreti]

What is the smallest amount of addressable memory for x86-64 architecture?

Someone recently asked this question in office and nobody seemed to know for sure. People were split into two camps:

Camp 1 Rhetoric

Computers operate on data in fixed-sized pieces where each single piece is commonly referred to as a ‘word’. The size of a word (aka word size, word width, or word length) depends on the specific processor architecture. Modern servers use the Intel x86-64 architecture (target platform for our office discussion) with a word size of 64 bits (8 bytes). That gets us to 8 byte being the smallest amount of addressable memory.

Camp 2 Rhetoric

A byte is smallest amount of addressable memory. Every programmer on earth has used a variable of type ‘char’ or 'byte’ which has a sizeof  1 byte. Addressing 8 bytes for every 1 byte seems utterly stupid.

To answer this question, I started with a simple experiment : A program that sets a single value in a character array.  What happens under the cover when you write a 1 byte character? Do you end up writing a word instead of writing a single byte?

Experiment

Relevant disassembly for code (Compiler Explorer shines here as it strips all the irrelevant stuff) :

The interesting part here is line 4: mov BYTE PTR [rbp-16], 97

Over here, we are storing 97(ASCII value of character 'a’) in a relative address [rbp-16], where 'rbp’ is a register pointing to the base of stack. The key thing here to note is the use of 'BYTE PTR’ instruction.

A quick web search gets you to this article on University of Virginia’s website, which explains this instruction as a “Size Directive”. Here is the summary of the relevant excerpt :

In general, the intended size of the of the data item at a given memory address can be inferred from the assembly code instruction in which it is referenced. However, in some cases when the size of a referred-to memory region is ambiguous, the assembler must be explicitly directed. The size directives BYTE PTR, WORD PTR, and DWORD PTR serve this purpose, indicating sizes of 1, 2, and 4 bytes respectively.

We are definitely writing a BYTE here instead of a complete WORD.

That brings us to our answer, x86-64 architecture allows BYTE Addressing where you can write a byte instead of writing a complete word.