Perl code that is syntactically correct only on Fridays
1–10 of 233 posts
Re: Perl code that is syntactically correct only on Fridays
#2I have written code that only works in winter because of daylight saving times and some unfortunate date conversions, but having a temporary correct syntax is really a new high.
Re: Perl code that is syntactically correct only on Fridays
#3Another great reason not to deploy on Friday.
Re: Perl code that is syntactically correct only on Fridays
#4This leverages Perl's BEGIN block which runs before the main part of the code. I suppose the same fun could be had in other languages:
if day_of_week is "Friday"
eval(piece_of_incorrect_code)
else
do_sane_operationRe: Perl code that is syntactically correct only on Fridays
#5This leverages Perl's BEGIN block which runs before the main part of the code. I suppose the same fun could be had in other languages: if day_of_week is "Friday" eval(piece_of_incorrect_code) else do_sane_operation
Moral quandary of the morning: Do I point out the sign error or do I just say please don't merge this?
Re: Perl code that is syntactically correct only on Fridays
#6I have written code that only works in winter because of daylight saving times and some unfortunate date conversions, but having a temporary correct syntax is really a new high.
I have written code (at work) that crashes when the moon is in a specific phase.
I had a "switch(moon_phase)" and forgot one of the cases... And the Android app was in debug mode, so any uncaught exception brought the whole thing down.
Re: Perl code that is syntactically correct only on Fridays
#7I have written code that only works in winter because of daylight saving times and some unfortunate date conversions, but having a temporary correct syntax is really a new high.
I have written code (at work) that crashes when the moon is in a specific phase. I had a "switch(moon_phase)" and forgot one of the cases... And the Android app was in debug mode, so any uncaught exception brought the whole thing down.
Having the code crash every full moon would be pretty cursed tbh.
Re: Perl code that is syntactically correct only on Fridays
#8Pro tip: add test cases to your CI runs with modified system date.
Re: Perl code that is syntactically correct only on Fridays
#9Somewhat related:
Perl Cannot Be Parsed: A Formal Proof (2008) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5770531
Re: Perl code that is syntactically correct only on Fridays
#10I had an intern once who wrote similar code. They confused 12 hour and 24 hour clocks, so the code would break after lunch.
Unfortunately, the intern only worked the mornings, so it took several days of back and forth before the bug could be finally put to rest.