layer8

C implementations are allowed to use a not-all-bits-zero representation for null pointer values. They are merely required to convert integer constant expressions with value zero to a null pointer valu…

An integer constant expression is a syntactical construct, not a runtime entity. The C standard provides no guarantee that bytes (chars) with value zero can be read from memory as a null pointer.

The bottleneck is usually I/O, or parsing into large object structures, not double parsing.

Dependency injection has nothing to do with dependency inversion.

My first guess was autostereograms, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Maybe some steganography?

I had an iPhone 6 (same size as SE2) for a year after the 5, and then reverted to the SE1 because the 6 was just too slippery with its round edges, and just a tad bit too wide to grip it naturally, an…

It’s okay for sub menus to expand on hover, because the user is already mentally in a menu context if they clicked to open the top-level menu. That is common desktop behavior too. However, it’s prefe…

Color or other styling can replace underlining. But it should always be made visually unambiguous what is a hyperlink/button and what isn’t.

I have, and it is noticeably heavier and less “thumbable” than the SE1 (and the screen scratches much more easily). The mini size is better than the 6/SE2, plus the return to flat edges, but it’s…

You should at least support what the latest devices support, e.g. iPhone 12 mini with Display Zoom turned on and large fonts. Incidentally, that will also mostly take care of the iPhone 5/5S/…

Java Web Start/JNLP/IcedTea is a good replacement if you don’t need direct integration of a Java UI into a web page. Integration with web applications is still possible by having the Java ap…

One could use some Unicode bracket character instead, e.g. U+276F: https://gist.github.com/claybridges/8f9d51a1dc365f2e64fa …

There are roughly 10^23 stars in the observable universe. We really have no idea how likely intelligent life is to evolve. It could be 1/10^10 per star, in which case intelligent life would be a …

> If a function can fail I want to see it right there on the return type and be forced to handle it on the spot. Checked exceptions solve this problem. Checked exceptions vs. result sum types aren’…

It seems to me the equivalence comparison will always have its limits. The Dhall documentation gives the example of `even(n + n)`, which Dhall is unable to recognize as equivalent to `true`. The featu…

As soon as you add some kind of macro system or any other content-rewriting, template-with-parameters or functional-abstraction mechanism, you may as well go full Turing. Otherwise people will try to …

The solution is separation of powers. Let the amount of the UBI be determined by an independent institution (like a judicial body) based on predefined criteria, put that mechanism into the constitutio…

That seems to be inaccurate. According to Wikipedia, string constants in FORTRAN 66 were named in honor of Hollerith, and the actual wording in the standard is: "4.2.6 Hollerith Type. A Hollerith…

In the early days I used "/" in local parts, which is syntactically valid. That turned out to be a bad idea, as some mail software was mapping local-parts to file names...

RFC 6531 adds support for internationalized local-parts. Support in actual software may be lacking though.

String doesn’t make sense either. But that’s how words acquire new meanings.

Those aren’t formal definitions. “Formal” means, at the very least, that the specification is done in a formal language, and usually that conformance to the specification can be checked mechanically, …

It’s actually the hardest one of the three, being outside the grasp of formal methods.

You get close to #2 using Excel’s table feature.

Ctrl+Space, C used to work for closing the Help window until recent versions. Unfortunately that doesn’t work anymore, the only solution is to use a VBA macro bound to a keyboard shortcut. At least in…

Most popular programming languages have that ability. The problem is that most people don’t know how to enter characters that aren’t on the keyboard and don’t have software installed/configured t…

Equal-length variable names help to see differences in the remainder of the line. You are more likely to spot mistakes in code where stuff that should be the same is aligned the same.

Bullshitting does not require knowledge of the truth. Liars know they are telling a falsehood. Bullshitters don’t care whether something is factual or not, as long as it serves their rhetoric purpose.

Surprisingly, it’s missing src/dst (source/destination).

...or even from one moment to the next.