My last name makes me invisible to Computers (2015)
1–10 of 140 posts
Re: My last name makes me invisible to Computers (2015)
#2I have seen apps that choke on much more common names. Like O'Brian.
This post is a classic on various name issues: http://www.kalzumeus.com/2010/06/17/falsehoods-programmers-b...
Re: My last name makes me invisible to Computers (2015)
#3brb...changing my surname to "null".
Re: My last name makes me invisible to Computers (2015)
#4previous discussion: Hello, I’m Mr. Null. My Name Makes Me Invisible to Computers - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12426315
Re: My last name makes me invisible to Computers (2015)
#5what languages don't distinguish between literal null and a string with content "null".
More importantly, who the fuck used such monstrosities?
Re: My last name makes me invisible to Computers (2015)
#6I've been programming for over a quarter century, and I feel pretty confident that I've never written anything that could confuse 'null' with NULL. I can't even think of a language that would let you easily do this.
If web forms aren't accepting NULL, then somebody probably specifically programmed the word 'null' into a filter of disallowed entries. Probably to stop clerks from entering the word 'null' to mean empty string. This has nothing to do with null being a reserved word in many languages, I'll bet the forms that aren't accepting 'null' aren't accepting 'none' or 'empty' either.
Re: My last name makes me invisible to Computers (2015)
#7what languages don't distinguish between literal null and a string with content "null". More importantly, who the fuck used such monstrosities?
Oh, let me tell you about the saga of Mr Curl trying to update his billing information at a company I used to work for...
Re: My last name makes me invisible to Computers (2015)
#8what languages don't distinguish between literal null and a string with content "null". More importantly, who the fuck used such monstrosities?
Oh, let me tell you about the saga of Mr Curl trying to update his billing information at a company I used to work for...
I don't understand. Are you agreeing with me or suggesting a string with the contents "curl" will somehow cause the server to execute the curl command?
Re: My last name makes me invisible to Computers (2015)
#9what languages don't distinguish between literal null and a string with content "null". More importantly, who the fuck used such monstrosities?
I don't think it's a specific language. It's typically some protocol or library or developer inventing their own "nullable value" placeholder.
Re: My last name makes me invisible to Computers (2015)
#10I've been programming for over a quarter century, and I feel pretty confident that I've never written anything that could confuse 'null' with NULL. I can't even think of a language that would let you easily do this. If web forms aren't accepting NULL, then somebody probably specifically programmed the word 'null' into a filter of disallowed entries. Probably to stop clerks from entering the word 'null' to mean empty…
String interpolation will often end up crossing the barrier between NULL as an empty pointer value and "null" as an ordinary string.