Portfolio of Sarah Vessels

One Programmer’s Ideal Language

Sarah Vessels — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 01:12:28 +0000

I wrote this paper for my graduate-level programming languages class as a final project. Here’s the introduction:

There are some readable programming languages out there, and there are powerful programming languages as well, but how often do the two meet? It would be ideal to have both readability and power in a language, but it seems as though one comes at the cost of another. Lisp is an incredibly powerful language, but it is not very readable due to its syntax. Ruby has some constructs that make code read almost like English, but its speed has been criticized when compared with other dynamic languages. Still other languages offer convenience to the programmer through their unique features.

Perhaps it is a pipe dream, but it would be nice if a single language could combine speed, expressiveness, readability of code, and power, all while being convenient and intuitive to write. Some would argue that these traits are already included in an existing language, and the degree to which these goals are met is certainly subjective. Since one person’s elegant construct may be another’s cluttered obfuscation, let this paper then reflect this particular developer’s description of a more perfect language. The goal is to select the nicest features from existing languages as well as include other features that perhaps have not been seen before. The result might not be easily implementable, but that is the scope of this paper as well: to explore interesting ideas for a language beyond what is already known to work.
— One Programmer’s Ideal Language by Sarah Vessels

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Comparison of Models for Testing Ruby on Rails Web Applications

Sarah Vessels — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 23:49:25 +0000

This past semester for my software engineering class at UK, I co-authored a paper on ways of testing Ruby on Rails web applications. Here’s the abstract:

Web applications are prevalent and it is important that they be of high quality as businesses, schools, and public services rely upon them. Toward that end, we compared two approaches for testing web applications. The Atomic Section Model (ASM) and the Qian, Miao, Zeng (QMZ) model are both used as a means of generating test cases that traverse a web application. We applied the two models to a Ruby on Rails web application to compare defect detection efficacy. We found that both models performed equally well in terms of total faults detected, though neither model found all seeded and naturally occurring faults. Also, the ASM model detected one fault that the QMZ did not, and vice versa.
— Comparison of Models for Testing Ruby on Rails Web Applications by Darra Ricks and Sarah Vessels

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new Job History, layout coming

Sarah Vessels — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 19:56:31 +0000

I updated the Job History page to include jobs last semester as well as my current position at Hewlett Packard. I also updated the Skills page and am working on a new layout based on my current personal blog layout. I upgraded Wordpress to the latest version as well.

new work

Sarah Vessels — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 20:41:11 +0000

Added new Sample Work under the 3till7.net and Other sections. Updated my Job History for Lexmark.

old theme for a bit

Sarah Vessels — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 16:48:54 +0000

Going back to the previous white theme for a bit till I get a chance to create a new theme because I noticed the other theme was really dark on CRT monitors.

Making the Web a Prettier Place

Sarah Vessels — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 23:56:48 +0000

This is a very basic introduction on how to create a web page. It lasted for about ten minutes and was given to an audience of middle schoolers visiting the University of Kentucky campus. See also the handout I made for them containing links to various resources.

View the presentation »

CSS Web Design

Sarah Vessels — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 23:50:46 +0000

This lasted about an hour, if I remember correctly, and skimmed over HTML and CSS basics before delving into guidelines for improving a web page’s appearance through CSS. The audience was my fellow college students who may have had some knowledge of HTML and CSS but no background in professional web design.

View the presentation »

new screenshots

Sarah Vessels — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 15:21:33 +0000

I added two new screenshots, one of my current 3till7.net layout and another of a previous idea for a 3till7.net layout. I also added a couple of web design presentations that I’ve given in the past to the Sample Work page.

new screenshots

Sarah Vessels — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 16:34:26 +0000

I added two new screenshots to the Sample Work page. I also added more links to the Links page.

new layout

Sarah Vessels — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 16:28:55 +0000

I put up a real layout, finally! The color scheme was inspired by the hhspring Vim theme. I also fixed the contact form, which had been redirecting to a nonexistent page.