Tag

beginner

54 posts

PostgreSQL

Installing PostgreSQL on macOS Linux and Windows Today

Install PostgreSQL on macOS with Homebrew, on Linux with packages and on Windows with the installer, then check that the service runs.

7 min read

YAML

A Cheat Sheet of YAML Syntax for Everyday Config Files

One page of YAML syntax: scalars, quoting, collections, block strings, anchors, documents, comments and the values that change type. Copy-ready snippets.

6 min read

YAML

YAML Null Values and the Empty String Question Answered

Six ways to write null in YAML, how they differ from the empty string, and what a key with no value, an empty list and an absent key mean to your code.

6 min read

YAML

Comments in YAML and What Parsers Do With Them in Practice

YAML allows comments with a hash, but most parsers throw them away when they load and save. What survives a round trip in PyYAML, ruamel.yaml and yq.

6 min read

YAML

YAML Anchors Aliases and Merge Keys Without Surprises

Define a block once with an anchor, reuse it with an alias, and merge it with the merge key. Real output shows overrides, sharing and where merging stops.

5 min read

YAML

YAML Lists and Mappings Without Confusion in Real Files

Block and flow styles for sequences and mappings, lists of mappings, empty collections and why a missing value is None, each with its parsed result.

6 min read

YAML

YAML Multiline Strings With Pipe and Greater Than Signs

The pipe keeps line breaks, the greater than sign folds them, and chomping indicators control the final newline. Six variants and the exact strings.

5 min read

YAML

YAML Strings Quoting and When You Really Need Quotes

Plain, single quoted and double quoted YAML strings compared, with the characters that force quotes and a table of values that silently change type.

5 min read

YAML

YAML Indentation Rules and Why Tabs Break Everything

How YAML uses spaces to build structure, why a tab is rejected, and how one extra space turns a sibling into a child. Real parser output for each case.

6 min read

YAML

YAML Versus JSON for Configuration Files That Last

Comments, types, size, parse speed and safety compared with measured numbers, plus why JSON is nearly valid YAML. One format costs 55 times more to parse.

6 min read

CSV

Writing Query Results Back Out to CSV With DuckDB COPY

Export a DuckDB query to CSV with COPY. Control the delimiter, NULL text, quoting, date format and compression, and split output into one file per value.

9 min read

YAML

Comments That Help the Next Person Reading Your YAML

What to write in YAML comments, what to leave out and how to lint comment style. Includes yamllint output for spacing and indentation, and what tools drop.

6 min read