About

My name is Austin Zheng. I write software and try to spend my time learning new things. Sometimes I’ll write about these new things here, in this blog.

In terms of programming languages, I am most proficient currently with C, Objective-C, and Swift, and somewhat proficient with Python. To this toolbox I am working to add Clojure (for its Lisp-based expressiveness and homoiconicity), Haskell (for its powerful type system and functional purity), Rust (a systems language with powerful correctness checking), and Erlang (for its unsurpassed actor-based concurrency support).

Other technical pursuits I have engaged in or are interested in include embedded systems, FPGAs, robotics, PCB design, additive manufacturing (e.g. 3D printing), and CNC machining.

My GitHub username is austinzheng, and my Twitter username is also @austinzheng. You can find me on LinkedIn here, and on lobste.rs here. You can construct my email address and send me email by taking my full name (provided verbatim earlier in this paragraph) and combining it with the domain for Google’s consumer email service.

NOTE: I may edit older entries from time to time. ‘Major’ edits (those that significantly expand upon or change the meaning of a post) will be accompanied by a notice. For a full revision history you are welcome to look through the backing git repository found here.

The title

Episteme and techne are ancient Greek terms of art referring to different types of knowledge. In the (rather specific) context of this blog, episteme refers to the well-founded theoretical underpinnings of our craft, while techne refers to practical engineering knowledge used to build actual things.