Something other than vegetables

Using Python I was able to construct a simple Monte Carlos analysis tool for use in Project Management scheduling.

It takes in the PERT outputs (a weighted average estimate and standard deviation) and runs simulations across a list of tasks, providing outcomes in percentage format (i.e. the percentage of times each estimate occurs relative to the number of iterations).

As it just now exists, it will be an important task to assess the accuracy of the output over time. However, it was a useful exercise and cost-saving for the company if it turns out to be an accurate tool. Project Management software capable of running this type of analysis tend to be expensive, which is fair, but with my newly minted Python skills it was a chance to combine career and new skill to generate business value with a much lower total cost.

Again, another item I intend to revisit on the blog as results come in, but also an example of how I sometimes stop sniffing the literal flowers in my planters and try to solve other problems.

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Context in Node-Red

It's probably not news to anyone willing to read documentation, but I was able to simplify a number of Node-Red flows recently after a primer on context. In Node-Red, each function node has a self-contained context. Variables are local to that node and nothing is permanent. Unless you use a different context. It is possible to set flow-level and global-level variables that can be used to store values, provide them to multiple other nodes without links, and give the illusion of memory to Node-Red. Setting flow context uses simple syntax: flow.set( 'name of the variable' , 'value of the variable' ) This new flow-level variable can be called anywhere in the same Flow tab. This is great for recording values that don't change every time the flow runs (e.g. a maximum recorded value), or need to be used in isolation from the pathway that generates them. Calling the value is relatively simple as well: var varName = flow.get( ' name of the varia...

Return to the garden

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Flask, uWSGI, and NGINX - a saga

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