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Featured Articles

If there is a single characteristic that sets C programmers apart, it is an understanding of bits. If you don’t understand bits then you are a programmer in some other language pretending to be a C programmer. Harsh, but true. Find out why the bit has an important role to play in this extract from my book, Deep C Dives .

War is a spur to innovation and computing was kickstarted in the Second World War, but perhaps its greatest driver was the Cold War with its need to monitor the skies for a potential nuclear strike. For this, the US Government commissioned SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment), the most ambitious computing project of the era.

Programming News and Views

Irrelevant? A dinosaur in an age of refinement? Neither of the above. It is still JavaScript's standard library and has been brought up-to-date and made entirely relevant with this long-anticipated new major version.

FunctionGemma is an open-source Google model fine-tuned for function calling that aims to revolutionize the way we interact with our devices.

This isn't just a course, it's the complete curriculum of Stanford’s CME295 Transformers and Large Language Models from Autumn 2025.

For a few more days at the beginning of 2026,  Coursera has a special offer - 50% off a Coursera Plus annual subscription. Very worthwhile if you love learning new skills or keeping your existing skills up to date. But don't take my word for it. Results of the 2025 Coursera Learner Outcomes Report, show 91% achieved positive career outcomes

pg-aiguide adds AI-optimized PostgreSQL expertise to coding assistants. What does that mean?

Ncurses 6.6 has been released with improved support for Windows Terminal, along with other enhancements including a better terminal mouse driver and improved error handling.

The latest incarnation of Boston Dynamics' Atlas Robot took to the stage at CES 2026. Hyundai announced that it plans to deploy tens of thousands of the humanoid robot in its own manufacturing facilities and a strategic partnership between Hyundai and Google DeepMind means these robots will possess "physical intelligence".

An event for API practitioners from around the world covering everything API-related. We're checking the highlights.

On this day 70 years ago, the US government disclosed its plans for SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment), the most ambitious computing project of the Cold War. In response to the prospect of a Soviet bomber attack, this massive network of radar and "super-computers" pioneered real-time processing and the interactive display technologies that defined early computing.

Google has released an open standard that can be used to turn AI interactions into sales. The Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) establishes a common language and functional primitives to enable systems to pass data between "consumer surfaces, businesses, and payment providers".

Google has changed the schedule for its Android Open Source Project (AOSP) from quarterly to half yearly. Until now, the releases have followed those of Google's closed Android operating system. Security updates will continue to be made more frequently.

Book Watch

This guide equips the reader with the skills to design and build robust, distributed systems using modern C++. Starting with fundamental architectural principles and design philosophies, Andrey Gavrilin, Adrian Ostrowski and Piotr Gaczkowski walk readers through practical approaches to designing and deploying reliable systems. This edition contains significant updates across the book, including new chapters on observability, package management, and C++ modules to address real-world software challenges.

In this book Craig Walls sets out the case that when it comes to AI applications, no Python, no problem! The Spring AI framework makes it possible to add LLM-based features to any Spring application using Java or other JVM languages like Kotlin. From setting up Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) to creating AI agents, Craig Walls shows the reader how to build AI applications natively using Spring AI and Spring Boot. Starting with a simple “Hello AI World” example and quickly advancing to more sophisticated techniques, including RAG, AI agents, tool use, speech, and AI observability.

In this book, with the full subtitle "Cybersecurity Threat Mitigation Lessons from A Real-World LockBit Ransomware Response",  Zachary Lewis delivers a gripping, first-person account of how a major university squared off against one of the world's most infamous ransomware groups: LockBit. He walks you through his personal experience battling – and negotiating with – LockBit, as well as the strategies, tools, and approaches he used in resolving the crisis.

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