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Ask HN: Anyone know any funny programming jokes?

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Re: Ask HN: Anyone know any funny programming jokes?

#641

Post by FroshKiller »

KMag wrote: post #498
ehnto wrote: post #402

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depending on the language the ampersand could mean by copy or by reference. I suspect the commentor wants by reference, since they want to examine it later.

> Depending on the language the ampersand could mean by copy or by reference Yikes. Which languages use ampersand to signal passing by value? That's a massive footgun if I'm ever cargo-culting my way through writing some code in one of those languages for the first time.

Isn't the real footgun trying to do work you don't adequately understand?

Re: Ask HN: Anyone know any funny programming jokes?

#644

Post by m463 »

kilnr wrote: post #399
gumby wrote: post #193

This is an oldie (I first heard it in the 80s) but is one of my all time favorites. While it can be told about any two classes of people it really applies to a lot of code I encounter: A physicist is showing a thermos to her friend, a programmer. "It's amazing", she said. "You put a cold drink inside and regardless of how hot it is outside the drink stays cold". The programmer is suitably impressed. "But that's not a…

Love the joke, but to me it points to something else than gratuitous state variables. I think of it as "if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail", with the hammer being "procedurally solving problems".

Just the same, I wish make were a little more procedural.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone know any funny programming jokes?

#645

Post by dvfjsdhgfv »

yholio wrote: post #456
dvfjsdhgfv wrote: post #419

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ask the blonde waitress an integral I know this is a fun thread, but in real life you could have serious problems if you tell this kind of jokes. To my fellow downvoters: I hate it as much as you do.

Well, the joke is a play on those gender stereotypes, the blonde waitress clearly knows much more then even the optimistic mathematician expects. The butt of the joke here is the university system and the jobs market.

That's true, but frankly, would you tell this joke during a conference? Personally, I'd prefer not to, even if it was relevant.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone know any funny programming jokes?

#646

Post by johnchristopher »

ojathe wrote: post #418
johnchristopher wrote: post #417

C'est un administrateur système qui reconfigure ses variables d'environnement et paf le chemin. I tell it like I am someone serious but a bit dumb who thinks it's really funny and is too stupid to see how dumb this is. Only work in French and I set up the stage by being me at the beginning and telling it in front of programmer or it people and non it people so IT people have to confirm it's stupid and the joke is in…

I don't get it. Is it simply funny (in an absurd way) because of the usual "Paf le X" french jokes, or is there something more to it ?

Yes, it's only funny when you play the dumb/silly guy and people know "Paf le chien" (which is already absurd). French people usually pronounce Path and Paf in the same way and "Chemin" and "Chien" sounds alike.

What usually happens is the IT guys look at me, sighing and non verbally confirm to non-IT people that the joke is way too stupid and geeky to explain.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone know any funny programming jokes?

#647

Post by marcosdumay »

ifdefdebug wrote: post #431
tsimionescu wrote: post #353

There's an old Joel on Software one related to string concatenation: Shlemiel gets a job as a street painter, painting the dotted lines down the middle of the road. On the first day he takes a can of paint out to the road and finishes 300 yards of the road. "That's pretty good!" says his boss, "you're a fast worker!" and pays him a kopeck. The next day Shlemiel only gets 150 yards done. "Well, that's not nearly as go…

Nice plot twist. I thought this one was going to be about optimizing the work that has to be done for one kopeck.

There's something about strcat there somewhere.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone know any funny programming jokes?

#648

Post by dvfjsdhgfv »

polytely wrote: post #560
dvfjsdhgfv wrote: post #419

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ask the blonde waitress an integral I know this is a fun thread, but in real life you could have serious problems if you tell this kind of jokes. To my fellow downvoters: I hate it as much as you do.

Seems very unlikely? This joke is obviously punching up instead of punching down. Feel like a lot of people worried about cancel culture have some kind of bogeyman in their head that doesn't reflect reality at all. Even if that wasn't the case: the niche nature of the joke protects you against global outrage

I wish it was a bogeyman. The Donglegate happened because someone overheard a joke between two friends. Then people have been fired. I'm very, very careful about every joke I tell and who is around.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone know any funny programming jokes?

#650

Post by dvfjsdhgfv »

OJFord wrote: post #467
dvfjsdhgfv wrote: post #419

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ask the blonde waitress an integral I know this is a fun thread, but in real life you could have serious problems if you tell this kind of jokes. To my fellow downvoters: I hate it as much as you do.

Did you stop reading then? Because the actual joke is that even the guy that thought the average person numerate stereotyped her as dumb and was wrong. An absurd example of a 'blonde joke' to object to if you're going to.

That's my very point: there are people who will find it offensive neverheless.
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