A Short Personal Reference Guide to LLM Concepts & Limitations

Core Concepts

Foundation

• Large Language Models: Neural networks trained on vast text data to predict next tokens
• Architecture: Primarily transformer-based with attention mechanisms
• Parameters: Model size/capacity (billions to trillions)
• Training: Self-supervised learning on text corpora
• Inference: Generation of text responses to prompts

Introduction to APIs for Python and Java Newbies

APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) serve as bridges between different software applications, allowing them to communicate and share data with each other. For beginner programmers in Python and Java, understanding APIs opens up vast possibilities to enhance your applications with external data and functionality.

What is an API?

An API is essentially a set of rules and protocols that allows one software application to interact

When setting up a new shell environment, I take the following steps to create a space that literally works for me. The command prompt tells me what machine I'm on, the path I'm in, Git status, virtual environment status, whether the last command succeeded or not, and its elapsed time. Plugins tell me whether the command I'm typing is in my path, and applies color to the command line arguments and man pages.

Install the following:

• Ghostty on Mac, terminator on Linux
• zsh
  • brew install zsh
• Oh-my-zsh

Introduction to C for Java and Python Programmers

As a Java or Python programmer, you'll find C both familiar and different. C is a procedural language that directly influenced both Java and Python, but it's lower-level, giving you more direct control over memory and hardware. Here's an introduction to help you bridge the gap.

Core Characteristics of C

C is a compiled, statically-typed language with manual memory management. Unlike Java's JVM or Python's interpreter, C code compiles directly to machine code for your specific hardware. There's no garbage collection - you allocate and free memory yourself.

Basic Syntax and Data Types

Remove the Apple Quarantine

Remove the Apple Quarantine attribute when downloading files that haven't been signed. This is obviously a very bad idea.

xattr -d com.apple.quarantine filename (or directory)

xattr -d com.apple.quarantine *

Introduction to Java JDBC for Beginners

What is JDBC?

Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) is a Java API that enables Java applications to interact with relational databases. Think of it as a bridge between your Java code and database systems like MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, and SQL Server. JDBC provides a standard way to query and update data in databases, regardless of which database management system you're using.

For beginners starting their Java journey, JDBC represents a fundamental skill set that opens the door to creating data-driven applications. Whether you're building a simple application that needs to store user information or a complex system that processes large datasets, JDBC gives you the tools to connect your Java code to the database world.

Core Components of JDBC

Docker and Docker Compose for Beginner Data Engineers

As a data engineer just starting your journey, understanding containerization technologies like Docker and Docker Compose is becoming increasingly essential. These tools will fundamentally change how you build, deploy, and scale data pipelines and applications. Let me walk you through what they are, why they matter for data engineering, and how to start using them effectively.

What is Docker?

Docker is a platform that allows you to package your application and all its dependencies into a standardized unit called a "container." Think of a container as a lightweight, standalone, executable package that includes everything needed to run your application: code, runtime, system tools, libraries, and settings.

The Problem Docker Solves

Java Enums: From Basics to Advanced Techniques

Java enumerations (enums) are special data types that allow a variable to be a set of predefined constants. They provide a powerful way to represent a fixed set of values in a type-safe manner. If you're a beginner Java programmer already familiar with basic concepts, understanding enums will significantly enhance your coding toolkit.

What Are Enums?

An enum is a special "class" that represents a group of constants (unchangeable variables, like final variables). Here's a simple example:

enum Day {