A collection of my thoughts and experiences, relevant or not.

I wrote an article on bitwise operations

I wrote an article on bitwise operations

June 21, 2024

Recently, I wrote an article about bitwise operations, which I posted on my GitHub account as a repository (which you can find here). I wanted to post the text here, too. I hope you enjoy it! — Bitwise Operations in C Introduction The goal of this repository is to acquaint you with bitwise operations, explaining what they are, how they work, and what they can be used for. Chapter 1: It’s All Binary In C (and most other high-level languages), our variables have types. These types are indicative of a few things. Of course, a variable of type int will store an integer value, but the key to understanding these bitwise operations is to know that under the hood, all types are stored in memory (anywhere, stack, heap, wherever) as binary. Here’s an example of what happens when you store a simple integer value on the stack in C: int main(int argc, char** argv) { int x = 2; return 0; } After compiling to assembly, the code might look like this (I’m using ARM assembly here, and I’ve annotated the code using comments): .section .text .global main main: ; Set up the stack for the function stp x29, x30......

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Conducting my High School Band for the World Premiere of 'Patriot March'

Conducting my High School Band for the World Premiere of 'Patriot March'

April 25, 2024

Last year, I composed a march for my high school band called “Patriot March.” Integrating the school’s alma mater ( Patriot’s Prayer from Finlandia) into the trio, I set out to compose a march that represented the four years I was on the cusp of completing. Inspired by the work of John Philip Sousa—which is no surprise, we played “The Stars and Stripes Forever” in each year’s pregame show and at the end of each concert—I wrote and revised the march over the course of a few months. During our annual band banquet, I presented the march as a parting gift from the senior class to the band program and the school. Below, I’ve included my notes from the score: Freedom High School has been an excellent four years of my life, and an important part of my life no less. Truly, these years have served me well and every encounter I’ve had has been great. When we as a people find something worth honoring, we honor it. That’s what I’m doing with Patriot March. I’m honoring everything Freedom High School is to me, but also everything it is to everyone who has ever set foot in the school. Think......

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