Who is Jeff Knupp?

I’m a 29 year old NYC based C++ developer specializing in ultra low-latency, high-throughput servers for the finance industry. I’m also an avid Python and Django hacker and the creator of IllestRhyme and linkrdr. And this blog.

Wait, did you just say you’re a C++ developer? They still exist?

Yep, and I love what I do. When you’re writing servers that need to perform at the microsecond level while maintaining the dressings of higher level languages, C++ can’t be beat. Every programmer should learn at least one systems language (preferably C) inside and out.

Where else do you hang out online?

Here’s a list of my usernames on various sites:

• ‘jknupp’ on Hacker News
• ‘jknupp’ on Reddit
• ‘jeffknupp’ on github
• ‘jeffknupp’ on BitBucket
• ‘jknupp’ on StackOverflow
• ‘@jeffknupp’ on Twitter

You posted something I strongly agree/disagree with. How can I contact you directly?

Feel free to email me at jknupp@gmail.com or leave a comment on the site.

I’m having trouble with X, which you posted about. Can you help?

I’d be happy to try. I would be nowhere without the mentoring and support of fellow programmers/open source software projects. I’m always looking for a chance to give back.

Your blog looks cool/makes my eyes burn, what did you use to create it?

Octopress, the blogging tool for hackers. It’s by far the most hacker-friendly blogging platform I’ve come across. It’s mostly shiny plugins and config defaults on top of Jekyll, a ‘simple, blog aware, static (emphasis mine) site generator’. Jekyll is Ruby based and awesome.

How do you host your various sites?

I’ve been using Linode (note, my affiliate code is in there) for about a year and couldn’t be happier. I’m running all of my sites on a single Linode: Ubuntu 11.10 w/ 512MB RAM and a 200GB transfer cap (the basic plan). Their documentation is great, if you need it, and I’ve honestly never had a support ticket answered as fast as by ‘cciufo’ (I just looked it up) on their support team. The problem was literally fixed in 3 minutes, at 1:06 AM no less. If I sound like a shill, it’s just because I’ve had nothing but good interactions with them. Here’s a link without my affiliate code.

I’d like to write a guest post about X.

Unlike a lot of personal bloggers, I warmly welcome guest posters. If you’re an expert at something programming related (leave the amateur stuff to me) and have an interesting topic in mind, email me. You can link to your site to your heart’s content. What do I care? This is a blog. I just want it to be useful.

I’ve got a great idea for a website. Can you build it with/for me?

Sorry, but my plate is full. I’d be happy to give advice but I’ve got enough of my own projects to more than occupy my time.

Vi or Emacs?

Vi like a boss.

Python or Ruby?

Python as I find it an easier language for others to pick up. People who write code that conforms to PEP8 make me smile. That said, Ruby has some great web frameworks and is a fun language to work with.

Why did the last question only have two languages?

Because web developers (the primary audience of this blog) tend towards those two languages. Personally, I code in C++, Python, Clojure, Haskell and various shell scripting languages.