Null coalescing operator

The null coalescing operator (called the Logical Defined-Or operator in Perl) is a binary operator that is part of the syntax for a basic conditional expression in several programming languages, including C#,Perl as of version 5.10,Swift, and PHP 7.0.0.

In contrast to the ternary conditional if operator used as x ? x : y, but like the binary Elvis operator used as x ?: y, the null coalescing operator is a binary operator and thus evaluates its operands at most once, which is significant if the evaluation of x has side-effects.

C#

In C#, the null coalescing operator is ??. It is most often used to simplify null expressions as follows:

For example, if one wishes to implement some C# code to give a page a default title if none is present, one may use the following statement:

instead of the more verbose

or

The three forms are logically equivalent.

The operator can also be used multiple times in the same expression:

Once a non-null value is assigned to number, or it reaches the final value (which may or may not be null), the expression is completed.

Liberman (album)

Liberman is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Vanessa Carlton, released on October 23, 2015, through Dine Alone Records. It is the follow up to Carlton's 2011 album Rabbits on the Run and marks her first release since signing with Dine Alone Records. The title of the album comes from an oil painting made by Carlton's late grandfather, whose given surname was Liberman.

Background and writing

Following the 2011 release Rabbits on the Run, Carlton took time off to get married, start a family and write another album. She tells CBS News that these changes in her life are reflected in Liberman's songs and that she "wanted the whole album to feel like an escape type of album, where you put it on and you feel like you're in this dreamy state."

To avoid preconceived notions, demos recorded were sent to Dine Alone Records without Carlton's name attached. Label president Joel Carriere recalls hearing the demos and tells The Toronto Star, "The songs were amazing, it was atmospheric, it kind of fit into what we’re all into ... and we never would have guessed it was Vanessa Carlton because her voice has developed so much since her pop songs 14 years ago and the songwriting had obviously changed. We were, like: 'Yeah, we want to do this. But what is it we’re doing?'"

Operator (mathematics)

An operator is a mapping from one vector space or module to another. Operators are of critical importance to both linear algebra and functional analysis, and they find application in many other fields of pure and applied mathematics. For example, in classical mechanics, the derivative is used ubiquitously, and in quantum mechanics, observables are represented by hermitian operators. Important properties that various operators may exhibit include linearity, continuity, and boundedness.

Definitions

Let U, V be two vector spaces. Any mapping from U to V is called an operator. Let V be a vector space over the field K. We can define the structure of a vector space on the set of all operators from U to V (A and B are operators):

for all A, B: U → V, for all x in U and for all α in K.

Additionally, operators from any vector space to itself form a unital associative algebra:

with the identity mapping (usually denoted E, I or id) being the unit.

Bounded operators and operator norm

Contract bridge

Contract bridge, or simply bridge, is a trick-taking game using a standard 52-card deck. It is played by four players in two competing partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each other around a table. Millions of people play bridge worldwide in clubs, tournaments, online and with friends at home, making it one of the world's most popular card games, particularly among seniors. The World Bridge Federation is the governing body for international competitive bridge.

The game consists of several deals each progressing through four phases: dealing the cards, the auction (also referred to as bidding), playing the cards, and scoring the results. However, most club and tournament play involves some variant of duplicate bridge, where the cards are not re-dealt on each occasion, the same deal being played by two or more different sets of players to enable comparative scoring.

Etymology

The name bridge has its origins in the name of an earlier game. Bridge departed from whist with the creation of Biritch (or "Russian Whist") in the 19th century, and evolved through the late 19th and early 20th centuries to form the present game. The word biritch itself is a spelling of the Russian word Бирюч (бирчий, бирич), an occupation of a diplomatic clerk or and announcer. However some experts think that the Russian origin of the game is a fallacy.

Bridge (Blues Traveler album)

Bridge is the sixth album by American jam band Blues Traveler, released May 2001 (see 2001 in music). This is Blues Traveler's first album following the 1999 death of bassist Bobby Sheehan. The album was originally titled "Bridge Out of Brooklyn."

Track listing

All tracks by Blues Traveler

Personnel

References

External links

Bridge 9 Records

Bridge Nine Records is a contemporary hardcore punk record label located outside Boston, Massachusetts. Bridge Nine is owned by Chris Wrenn of Salem, Massachusetts, who began the label in 1995 and produced its first release in 1996. The label is named as a metaphor for what Wrenn wanted to do in creating the label: bridge all parts of the hardcore scene into one label and then put his lucky number (nine) in the title. The label currently has 8 employees and 30 active bands.

Active Bridge Nine bands

Previous and Affiliated Bridge 9 Artists