Empty string used to be like my own version of null pointer.

Ah, the SQLite approach!

I took great pains last week to convert a big python project to make it typed. (shoutout to MonkeyType)

It's so much nicer to develop now...

void*

God, that reminds me of the debate on XML that I had with a developer about fifteen years ago.

Both our companies were working for a client who needed to publish product catalogues in several languages twice a year.

They had implemented a sort of Content Management System which they used with a plugin to feed data into Quark Xpress files as well as their website, IIRC. Cross-media publishing, essentially, and they had their own little set of format instructions to make words appear in bold, different colors, etc.

Since my company was tasked with translating the text into various languages, I suggested they come up with a way to store their data as XML. The standard tools in the translation industry can be easily customized to work with that, and XML would be a good way to future-proof their software. After a lot of delaying, grumbling, and ho-hum, they agreed to implement this plan.

Lo and behold, when the first meeting on the new XML format came around they showed it to me for the first time and... everything was in CDATA sections. Entire paragraphs of text with proprietary formatting instructions. 😐

When I tried to explain, very politely, and very patiently, that this was not going to work, the lead dev started insulting me. I swear to God, I've never been this close to punching someone in the face at a business meeting. 🤬

Thankfully, the client understood the issue and we eventually got an XML-based data exchange going. It is probably still in use today.

I am strongly strongly statically typed pilled and I will not apologize.

The NHL banned the use of 00 as a number in the 95-96 season because they claimed their databases couldn't handle it. They still are fools because this continues to be a banned number to this day.

lol I think this when I see “any”

Me, trying to learn flat assembler: "What is even an object?"

Just use enums

Remember Tcl

Simply make everything an array of bytes

Haha! Reminds me when I arrived in a team whose API accepted JSON and all the booleans were "True" or "False" (meaningful case, obv.) That was fun.

some of you have never programmed in tcl and it shows

[Laughs in computed TypeScript strings]

at the end of the day everything's a []u8 if you want it to be

This certainly Tcl'd my funny bone.

where my Ada bros not committing war crimes at?

Kinda started using that with polars, force the scan/read schema as string, and down the road cast as the necessary type when needed. I'm calling it "just in time" data cleaning.

make everything a string then cast all data every time you want to use that data in a variable.

There are two genders: string and null

If it's not getting used in a mathematical function, I'm making it a string