People with names that break computers
1–10 of 288 posts
Re: People with names that break computers
#2Little Bobby Tables made some new friends.
Re: People with names that break computers
#3One of the applications I work on has a long history of problems handling data for people with the last name Null. I've given feedback on these bugs and make several recommendations for fixing them, but the folks who work on the application framework just...don't care? I don't know. They certainly don't design with exceptions in mind.
That's such an alien way of thinking to me. I was taught that 80% of your work is spent handling 20% of the data. Is there something cultural that prevents other programmers from working in exceptions-first mode?
Maybe it's just with boring business logic. I've heard that the most robust networking applications are written assuming constant worst-case failure states. Anyone have any insight into this phenomenon? I get that there are practical limits to what you can plan for, but if you're accepting string input, shouldn't you at least be prepared for apostrophes?
Re: People with names that break computers
#4One of the applications I work on has a long history of problems handling data for people with the last name Null. I've given feedback on these bugs and make several recommendations for fixing them, but the folks who work on the application framework just...don't care? I don't know. They certainly don't design with exceptions in mind. That's such an alien way of thinking to me. I was taught that 80% of your work is s…
I have a one word name. I was recently pulled over for speeding. When I called the court, the ticket had already been dismissed. Because the officer hadn't properly filled out the ticket; he had copied my (one) name from my DL.
So, don't fix that particular system, thanks very much.
Re: People with names that break computers
#5Obligatory: https://xkcd.com/327/
Re: People with names that break computers
#6Re: People with names that break computers
#7Little Bobby Tables
https://xkcd.com/327/
(Edited)
Re: People with names that break computers
#8I had a strange experience where my cable company's mobile app, which streams most channels, was missing audio on a few channels. After escalating the issue to an engineer, he finally got back to us and told us that if a username contained "ts" like mine did this issue would happen. After making a second username without that combination, all worked fine. I'd still like to know what logic in their application would get stumped by these two letters.
Re: People with names that break computers
#9In addition to the obligatory little Bobby Tables, this blog post describing the falsehoods programmers believe about names is informative and a must-read for anyone dealing with names in software:
http://www.kalzumeus.com/2010/06/17/falsehoods-programmers-b...
Re: People with names that break computers
#10Air Canada and several other airlines have for several years been unable to read my passport on the automated check in because I have a suffix in my name (II). I am told that "this happens with everyone who has a suffix", which just boggles my mind.