Sam White’s Blog

Writings on software design, ratings, and the occasional bit of mathematics, by Samuel White of Gyassa Software. Posts are listed below, newest first.

Posts

• Enigma Machine and Deduction of the Plugboard — Aug 6, 2026
  A lingering question after my tour of England investigating the roots of modern cryptography and computers. Includes a link to code that simulates the Enigma machine and was used to investigate the question.

• Kotlin, KMP, JSON Schema, SDUI, and Claude — the AI’s rewrite — Jul 5, 2026
  An AI’s rewrite (Claude Opus 4.8) of the proposal to rebuild DynamicRuntime around Kotlin, KMP, JSON Schema, and SDUI — with a first-person, more measured take on where AI actually helps and where human judgment still steers.

• The Uniqueness of the Prime 73 — Jul 14, 2024
  A number-theory exploration of why 73 is a uniquely special prime, working through integers mod N, units, and quadratic residues.

• Dynamic Runtime Project — Mar 13, 2019
  Continuing the data-driven design theme: storing schema and configuration as source-controlled data rather than database tables, and the search for like-minded developers.

• Dynamic Runtime Schema — Nov 14, 2018
  On dynamically building schema definitions during an application’s runtime — and the difficulty of finding prior art under ambiguous terms like dynamic, runtime, and schema.

• Thoughts on Programming Languages — Sep 3, 2017
  A decades-spanning retrospective on programming languages — static vs. dynamic, virtual machines, tool chains, and what an ideal replacement for Java might look like.

• Application Configuration — Jun 23, 2017
  Treating real configuration as complex tables and documents rather than simple name-value pairs, extending the data-as-source-code theme.

• Global Reference Tables — Mar 19, 2012
  Should reference data live in version control or in database tables? Argues for hardwiring it into source-controlled files, with a worked spice-table example.

• Evaluating Rating Systems — Aug 30, 2011
  How do you tell whether a rating system actually works? Uses a multiplayer game simulation with known “true skill” to measure Elo-style ratings.

• Wonders of Ratings — Aug 23, 2011
  On the surprising, under-appreciated potential of rating systems as a general mechanism for evaluating skill and quality in competitive environments.

• Rated Multiplayer Competitions — Jun 22, 2011
  Frustration with randomly assembled PVP teams sparks the idea of applying chess-like rating systems to multiplayer competitions.

• Why Gyassa? — Sep 12, 2010
  The story behind the company name — a nautical term for a lateen-sailed Nile cargo vessel, and why it sends the right message.

• First Post — Sep 2, 2010
  Introducing Gyassa Software, founded by Samuel White and Eva Cordes, the original developers behind the Stellent / Oracle UCM content management system.