Here is my latest HTTP load generator in Python (web performance test). You just give it a URL and some runtime parameters and it will hammer a resource with HTTP requests. You could easily adapt this to run against a web service or set of links. It is useful for quickly loading a web resource with synthetic transactions for performance testing or tuning purposes.

I have built lots of different load testing tool in Python in the past (see: Pylot), but they all suffered a similar problem. Their concurrency model was based on Threads. Because of this threaded design, combined with Python's GIL implemenatation, my tools were unable to fully utilize multiple cores or processors.

I like maps. I wasn’t sure why maps appealed to me until it dawned on me one day that maps are a form of data visualization. The phrase “here be dragons” was used by mapmakers many years ago in reference to uncharted or unexplored areas. I like the phrase. Maps were marked with dragons and in some cases, other animals were drawn to signify danger or unknown, uncharted territories. I find the concept and the phrase kind of cool in a geeky sort of way. You can read more about this old mapmaker’s phrase here.

I also like SQL. I like being able to access a database and spend time with data. I teach a couple of different SQL classes and one thing I’ve found repeatedly has been people’s intimidation by having to write a join in SQL. It’s amazing how far people will go to avoid the dreaded join – it’s a bit like “here be dragons” - a territory marked with fear and uncertainty.