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The Daily WTF is a programming-oriented humor blog created by Alex Papadimoulis based on stories about software development and the world of technology. It mainly focuses on anecdotes based on project issues, code examples, and funny stories related to IT. The site contains a vast collection of these real-world experiences by many developers who share their strange and funny encounters at work, both technical or personal, but always connected to related tech.

The Daily WTF thedailywtf.com

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RSS Hunter • Aug 19, 2024

Thread Of Notes

CodeSOD: The John Cage Variable

David C, who writes C++ code for programmatic animations, confessed to writing code without prioritizing quality due to its disposable nature. However, a particular line of code made him question his approach. The line featured heavily array-based parameter passing, leading to unintelligible variable names. For instance, length4_3_3, seemingly an attempt at a variable, is described as a range expression of size one. This naming convention fails to convey the meaning of the data it holds. While the code was intended to be temporary, David acknowledges that code is rarely truly disposable. He reflects on the tendency to reuse code across projects. The author suggests that even disposable code can have lasting implications. Ultimately, he advises readers to strive for better code quality.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/the-john-cage-variable thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Yesterday

The Weakest Leg

TruStage, a life insurance company, experienced a significant cybersecurity incident on July 10, 2026, with major business functions remaining partially available months later. The company is still working to understand the extent of the breach and has not determined what data was compromised or when services will be fully restored. Their insurance operations were affected, while systems supporting credit unions for banking remained operational. This incident has led to numerous lawsuits and highlights the complex intermediary role within the insurance industry.The insurance process often involves multiple partners, such as Ethos which uses AI to connect customers with policies, and Family First Life (FFL), which partners with companies like TruStage. TruStage's inability to process payments due to the cybersecurity incident is causing policies to lapse. This lapse results in lost commissions for agents and chargebacks for partner companies like Ethos and FFL.The president of FFL, Shawn Meaike, publicly criticized Ethos at an industry conference, labeling them the "weakest leg" of their partnerships and demanding an apology. Meaike's on-stage humiliation of an Ethos employee, Dylan Cummings, is seen as a particularly cringeworthy moment. This entire situation showcases a severe cybersecurity and disaster recovery failure by TruStage, negatively impacting customers and creating industry chaos. Ultimately, the incident reveals institutional incompetence at TruStage and a problematic business model for AI-driven insurance startups that rely heavily on a single issuer.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/the-weakest-leg thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Sep 21

Error'd: Ai Dios Mio

The author reflects on the rapid advancement of AI, noting a shift from human mockery of AI limitations to a future where AI might mock human ones. A collection of humorous observations from the past year highlights various AI-related quirks and frustrations. Timothy W. succinctly stated, "Mathing is hard," sarcastically welcoming AI overlords. AInonymous lamented the unsolicited proliferation of AI features on their phone. The Beast in Black critiqued an AI image classification tool, suggesting it lacked intelligence. Marius B. shared an amusing old screenshot of Bing's odd suggestions for "bear owners." Olivier pointed out a humorous AI translation error, where the AI offered help but then requested basic information. The overall sentiment is one of amusement and a touch of bewilderment at AI's current state and its swift evolution. These anecdotes capture a moment in time where AI is both impressive and comically flawed. The humor stems from unexpected AI behaviors and the evolving human-AI interaction.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/ai-dios-mio thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Sep 18

CodeSOD: Vintage 2013

A comment from Watson highlights an issue within GPL licensed code published by Oracle. The comment specifically points out an extensive copyright notice with numerous repetitions of the year 2013. This excessive repetition suggests a potential autogeneration error. The author expresses a lack of confidence in the code's quality due to this apparent flaw. The code itself is licensed under the GNU General Public License version 2. It's distributed without warranty, including implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. The full license text is available from the Free Software Foundation. The repetition of the year 2013 across many lines of the copyright notice is the primary concern raised. This issue raises questions about the file's release history and overall code integrity.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/vintage-2013 thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Sep 17

CodeSOD: Extremely One Line

Autoformatting code is a standard and essential practice for maintaining readability. There is no valid excuse for not utilizing some form of autoformatter, whether integrated into an editor or run as a build step. Even many IDEs, like Visual Studio, are quite proactive in automating this process. This makes a code sample from an ancient ASP.Net application particularly perplexing. The Page_PreInit function is completely contained on a single line, followed immediately by the declaration of Page_Load. This formatting decision creates significant confusion regarding where the Logic() function is called. The original developer also implemented user agent sniffing to check for "Safari" in the browser string. If "Safari" is detected, the Page.ClientTarget is set to a cryptic "uplevel" value. This demonstrates a combination of poor naming conventions, user agent sniffing, and using strings where enums might be more appropriate. The most concerning aspect is that this problematic pattern is repeated across multiple pages in the application. This suggests the developer intentionally chose this confusing and unreadable style, and considered it a viable solution to be reused.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/extremely-one-line thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Sep 16

CodeSOD: An Odd Sort

The script aims to report all Active Directory users and their last logon times, but it employs an inefficient and convoluted approach. It iterates through each letter of the alphabet to filter user accounts, which does not guarantee a fully alphabetical sort. For each letter, it creates a new DirectorySearcher object, explicitly requests only the 'name' property, and then finds all matching accounts.Subsequently, for each retrieved name, the script creates yet another DirectorySearcher. This new searcher is used to query for the specific user account to retrieve all its properties. Although only one result is expected for a username search, the FindAll() method is used, returning an array.This requires an unnecessary loop to iterate through a single-element array. Finally, it outputs the user's name and last logon time, concatenated with a comma. The script's design is highly inefficient due to repeated searcher instantiation, redundant queries, and an illogical filtering method. Despite its flaws, its ability to generate a CSV for managers makes it "mission critical" within the organization.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/an-odd-sort thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Sep 15

CodeSOD: I Exist

Greta, working in an ancient Pascal development environment, encountered a bug where her program reported files as non-existent despite their presence. She traced the issue to the system library's FileExists function. This function relies on FileAge, which retrieves a file's last modified timestamp. FileAge, in turn, uses FileTimeToDosDateTime to convert time formats. The critical flaw lies in FileAge's handling of FileTimeToDosDateTime's return value. FileTimeToDosDateTime returns a boolean to indicate success or failure, and sets an error code upon failure. However, FileAge does not check this boolean return value. If FileTimeToDosDateTime fails, FileAge proceeds to return -1. Consequently, FileExists interprets this -1 as the file not existing. The root cause of Greta's specific bug was that the process writing the files was not setting the "last write time." Without a valid last write time, FileTimeToDosDateTime fails, causing FileAge to return -1, and thus FileExists incorrectly reports the file as absent. This highlights a common issue in system libraries where subtle errors in error handling lead to significant functional bugs.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/i-exist thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Sep 14

Error'd: Unrewarding

The text highlights several instances where "zero" is presented in a negative or unrewarding context. Dmitry K. received a "scary blue button" from The North Face, implying a reward of nothing. Renan expresses disappointment with a 0% discount on Final Fantasy from Steam. Reinier B. complains about the Dutch Railways owing him 2.25 but stating the refund would occur "around 0," leading to confusion. Philip finds his relationship with Office Depot unrewarding, as his account shows $0 balance after the company's local closure. An anonymous user's ride app reward points will expire at the Unix epoch, effectively becoming worthless. Emily, facing complex reward point conversion, wonders if she will end up with -0.01 points, emphasizing the frustrating nature of these calculations. The common theme is that zero often signifies absence, expiration, or confusing financial scenarios. These examples illustrate how a zero value can be perceived as a drawback rather than a neutral or positive outcome. The variety of situations underscores a shared frustration with unrewarding rewards.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/unrewarding thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Sep 11

A Bit of DNS

The CAA record type in DNS allows domain owners to specify which certificate issuers are authorized to issue certificates for their domain. Initially defined in RFC6844 and later updated by RFC8659, the core concept remains the same. A key feature of CAA records is the "Issuer Critical" flag, intended to make issuers validate the record before issuing a certificate.This critical flag was designed as bit 0 of a flag bitmask, meaning a value of 128 should be used to enable it. However, a common misunderstanding led many to use the value 1, interpreting bit 7 as the critical flag. This misinterpretation is widespread among users who haven't thoroughly read the RFC.Certificate issuers like Let's Encrypt faced a dilemma: strictly adhere to the specification and reject incorrectly configured records, or accommodate the widespread error to maintain functionality. They chose the latter, effectively accepting a value of 1 as an alias for the critical flag. This decision acknowledges the practical reality of user error over strict adherence to the original specification.The provided Go code snippet for filterCAA demonstrates how this is handled in practice. It filters for "issue" and "issuewild" tags and also checks for unrecognized critical tags. Notably, the code checks if the flag is set to 128 (the correct value) or 1 (the commonly used, incorrect value) to determine if an unrecognized critical tag is present. This inclusivity of both values reflects the accommodation of the widespread user error regarding the critical flag.The author questions the wisdom of using bitmasks for such flags when it leads to confusion and errors, suggesting simpler flag mechanisms might have been more readable and less error-prone. While acknowledging the utility of bitmasks, the anecdote highlights how their complexity can lead to significant operational issues in real-world implementations. The interaction between technical specifications, user understanding, and practical implementation is a recurring theme.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/a-bit-of-dns thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Sep 10

CodeSOD: Asynchronous Directories

Vala is a programming language designed for Gnome with C# like features and near C performance. It supports asynchronous programming with async/await semantics, allowing functions to yield control. Many I/O library functions in Vala are asynchronous, such as make_directory_async. However, the core library lacks an asynchronous version of create_directory_with_parents, which synchronously creates directory chains. This omission is likely due to the complexity of handling race conditions asynchronously. The author, Eri, encountered this problem and implemented a custom asynchronous solution. Eri's initial approach involves attempting to create directories from the leaf node upwards, collecting missing parents in an array. It then iterates backwards through this array to create the directories. This method is considered inelegant as it uses exception handling for control flow. Eri acknowledges the difficulty of the problem, particularly managing asynchronous race conditions. A slightly improved version of the main loop is presented, but the approach remains complex. Despite its awkwardness, Eri's solution effectively addresses the missing library functionality. The author suggests the implemented function should be hidden away once it works correctly.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/asynchronous-directories thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Sep 9

A Mortal Blow

The author, nearing retirement, was headhunted for a specialty software role with excellent pay. Their onboarding process was initially slow, with the first six months spent waiting for access. The interviewer, Fred, was highly competent and formed a good rapport with the author. Fred assigned the author the task of analyzing the company's core software to understand and potentially modernize it.Before the author could present their findings, Fred unexpectedly passed away. This event created chaos within the company, and contractors like the author were largely forgotten. For the next eighteen months, the author was mostly ignored, using the time to build a development environment. During this period, they worked alongside a colleague who constantly criticized management.The author's new manager was hostile and dismissive, assigning work grudgingly. The company seemed to consist of older employees protecting their system and a newcomer trying to introduce automation, which was unwelcome. The author contributed to the TDWTF website during this stagnant period. Ultimately, the author was fired, with no hard feelings on their part. They are now working as a postman for their final few years before retirement. The author emphasizes that the risk of dropping dead from work-related stress is a real danger.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/a-mortal-blow thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Sep 8

Best of…: Classic WTF: A Dumbain Specific Language

This text discusses the creation of a domain-specific language (DSL) for defining "source" specifications. These specifications involve features and hierarchical steps, similar to a complex grammar. Instead of using XML with schemas for better structure and clarity, a previous implementation opted for a less robust solution. They created an XML schema rule that relied on an extensive regular expression to validate the data. This lengthy regular expression, totaling 1,310 characters, was intended to enforce the grammar rules. The author highlights that this approach proved problematic, leading to bugs. A specific bug necessitated a fix, with the author humorously referencing the negative consequences of such complex regex. The original grammar, along with its validation rules, is provided in both English and German. The text suggests that a more structured XML representation with proper schemas would have been a better, more maintainable approach. Ultimately, the attempt at a "labor-saving" solution through complex regex proved inefficient and error-prone.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/classic-wtf-a-dumbain-specific-language thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Sep 7

Error'd: Good Time

The editor acknowledges a personal error in calendar recollection, prompting readers to share similar "calendar failures" from various websites. C_Chell encountered a date input problem on IHG.com, preventing form completion for hotel arrival dates. Dragoncoder047 reported a "You Have -1 Month(s) To Order!" error from GradImages, a company already known for poor service and persistent emails. Michael R. discovered a "Stansted Temporal UI design" issue, showing a time of "00:06 tomorrow" for an arrival, implying a temporal paradox. Additionally, Michael R. noted "Directional Confusion" on the Stansted airport website. Finally, Slaoput highlighted a form that declared "Birthdate is optional" but then made it a mandatory field upon submission. These anecdotes illustrate a common thread of website design and functionality issues, particularly concerning date and time handling.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/good-time thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Sep 4

CodeSOD: Heating Up

Mini-split systems are popular for retrofitting older homes due to their cost-effectiveness and energy efficiency, but their reliance on IR remotes complicates integration with home automation. A common issue arises from the temperature conversion logic within these systems, particularly when converting between Celsius and Fahrenheit. An open-source project attempting to integrate mini-splits into home automation revealed a flawed temperature conversion method.The project's code uses lookup tables for Celsius to Fahrenheit and Fahrenheit to Celsius conversions. These tables contain specific, often inaccurate, mappings, leading to discrepancies compared to standard conversion formulas. For instance, 18C is incorrectly mapped to 65F instead of the more accurate 64F (when rounded). The design of these lookup tables suggests an attempt to approximate conversions rather than precise mathematical calculations.The author initially believed this was a naive optimization by the hobby project, but a comment in the code clarifies these are "direct mappings based on the remote." This indicates that the inaccuracies stem from the remote control itself. The remote likely uses lookup tables due to limitations of its embedded microcontroller, which may not handle floating-point calculations efficiently.Consequently, when a user sets a temperature like 72F on the remote, the remote internally translates it to an approximate Celsius value (e.g., 22.5C) before sending the command to the unit. This approximation, while "good enough" in most contexts, creates inconsistencies for precise automation. The fundamental problem, according to the author, isn't the hobby project's code or the remote itself, but rather the continued use of non-standard units (Fahrenheit) globally, which necessitates these imprecise conversions.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/heating-up thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Sep 3

What You Measure

Rachel joined a new team where her boss, Zane, emphasized a metrics-driven approach focused on maximizing widget production at the lowest cost. The automated production line involved complex software, with changes validated only in real-world production due to testing limitations. Rachel's initial task was to update a Google Sheet metrics dashboard, which pulled data from six databases, despite users always preferring Excel. The team tracked only output metrics like "widgets produced per unit time," with no detailed data to explain system behavior or bottlenecks. For instance, the automated quality control scanner did not record reasons for rejecting widgets, nor even the count of rejected items directly.Changes to the software were scored against overall output metrics, making validation difficult because these metrics were noisy and affected by external factors beyond the software itself. Rachel's attempts to implement a change to record rejected widgets were initially hampered by metric regressions caused by environmental issues rather than her code. Simple changes could take weeks to validate due to limited test runs and the need to account for metric regressions. Rachel began adding instrumentation to the code to gather more detailed data, hoping to build a useful system model.However, Zane remained fixated on immediate improvements to the key output metrics. He dismissed the value of gathering data to understand why those metrics behaved as they did, stating that such diagnostic data were not "key metrics." This created a fundamental conflict between Rachel's desire for system understanding and Zane's focus on top-line performance indicators. Rachel found a compromise by ensuring that any changes she made to improve top-level metrics also included instrumentation to explain the change's behavior. This strategy allowed her to both satisfy Zane's demands for metric improvement and incrementally enhance the system's observability. Ultimately, understanding the complex system remained a low priority compared to pushing top-level metrics without comprehensive insight into their drivers.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/what-you-measure thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Sep 2

Representative Line: So Much Room

Today's representative comment ran out of room. int maxLen = getColumnSize(session, "audit", "text_value1") - 16; // Leave some room forNo, it isn't continued on the next line and just got trimmed out, except perhaps by a careless merge. This is the entire comment.Clearly, written by David Chase, the creator of "The Sopranos".There are so many things we might be leaving room for. We could leave some room for dessert. Leave some room for activities. Leave some room for the holy spirit. Leave some room for improvisation.[Advertisement] ProGet’s got you covered with security and access controls on your NuGet feeds. Learn more.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/so-much-room thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Sep 1

Tales from the World Cup

A software company in Brazil was tasked with developing a police force digital system before the 2014 World Cup. The project was significantly undersized for the available engineering team, requiring an unrealistic timeline. Management hired numerous unqualified personnel, creating a "man-month problem." To compensate, the engineers were forced into intense crunch mode, working excessively long hours to meet the deadline. A proposed feature for citizens to submit incident photos was nicknamed the "dick-pic encyclopedia" and deemed too risky. The critical police car tracking system suffered from a bug related to unreliable cellular connections in favelas. Debugging this issue involved a precarious ride-along in a dangerous neighborhood. Ultimately, the delivered system was substandard and over budget. The company faced lawsuits for this and other similar projects, nearly going out of business. The narrator left the company due to unpaid overtime and the project's problematic execution.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/tales-from-the-world-cup thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Aug 31

CodeSOD: The Big Family

This blog post describes a piece of problematic PHP code. The author, working alone, shares it for catharsis and dark humor. To protect confidentiality, the code is generalized, potentially causing inconsistencies. The code fetches data, iterates through it, and retrieves details using dynamic property access for localization. It then formats costs based on a category variable, accessing an array $mot with arbitrary indices. Extensive HTML string manipulation is present, including generating quantity selection blocks. The code decodes JSON for time data, indicating dates are stored as strings. Dropdown lists are constructed using $mot array values. Ultimately, the processed data is inserted into a template. The process is repeated for child items, leading to nearly duplicated code. Furthermore, child items can also have siblings, requiring another iteration with similar code logic. The author expresses a hope that the original programmer will eventually learn to use methods and functions. The provided code snippet demonstrates the initial data fetching and processing loop for main and child items. It includes complex conditional logic for cost calculation and formatting. The dynamic property access for localization and currency is highlighted. The introduction of HTML snippets for quantity and time selection is also noted. The repetitive nature of code for main items, children, and siblings makes the codebase inefficient.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/the-big-family thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Aug 27

CodeSOD: Lock 'Em Dead

The provided C++ code snippet shows an exception handler for a Deadlock exception. Upon catching this exception, the code attempts to retry. However, retry is not a standard C++ keyword and is likely a macro. The author suspects this macro is implemented using a goto statement.The core issue lies in the assumption that retry will resolve the deadlock. A deadlock occurs when two or more threads are blocked indefinitely, each waiting for a resource held by another. For retry to be effective, it would need to release the resource currently held by the deadlocked thread.According to Kevin, the author of the code, the retry macro does not release any resources. Instead, it simply jumps back to the beginning of the catch block. This means the thread remains stuck in the deadlock situation.Kevin points out that the system already suffered from numerous deadlocks. A consultant was hired to address these issues by reordering resource access and identifying mutex-related problems. The consultant's implementation of retry appears to have inadvertently introduced more deadlocks. Kevin humorously suggests the consultant might have intended to add their own deadlocks.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/lock-em-dead thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Aug 26

Representative Line: Both Ways Bug Me

Debugging code often leads to peculiar and sometimes nonsensical expressions appearing in production environments. One such instance involves a SQL query containing an unusual conditional clause. The problematic section of the query is WHERE (some conditions) AND (1 = 0 OR (1 = 1 AND (other conditions))). This structure allows for toggling between always returning rows or returning rows based on the main conditions by manipulating the '1 = 0' part. It's also possible to configure it to never return rows, though its utility is questionable. The author suggests these are likely remnants of debugging flags that were never removed. Such lingering flags indicate a deficiency in code observability. Like many such flags, these are undocumented and seem to have been present since the code's release. The query likely originated as a temporary tool for an analyst before becoming a permanent stored procedure. The presence of these "dead" flags points to a broader issue in development and deployment practices.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/both-ways-bug-me thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Aug 25

RCE As a Feature

Kakistocracy, the rule of the worst and least qualified, is introduced as a relevant concept. A teacher, Jared B, shares his experience working for an ed-tech company founded by a mechanical engineering professor named Harry. Harry had developed a C interpreter and built a company around it, offering K-12 curriculum based on C programming. His software included a web IDE and a locally installed Windows version with a daemon for running C code remotely.This daemon, however, had no authentication and was bound to 0.0.0.0, allowing any domain or computer on the same network to execute arbitrary C code. These critical security vulnerabilities had existed for years, unnoticed by Harry's exclusively hired graduate student developers. The software was installed on thousands of school computers.Jared reported these issues to Harry, who released an update citing "security improvements" but failed to inform IT leaders about the importance of updating. Jared also discovered a cookie-stealing exploit and a code injection vulnerability on another of Harry's websites. This latter vulnerability exposed thousands of unencrypted credit card transaction records. Despite these significant security flaws and data exposures, Harry's company remains in business and has received accolades. The commentator contrasts this situation with someone they knew who was stuck on outdated technology but did not endanger an educational system.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/rce-as-a-feature thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Aug 24

Error'd: Hello, New Mexico!

Peter G. highlighted an error where users had to search for their language settings. Peter S. humorously pointed out a Google calculation error, suggesting it proved 0 equals 1. Ivan expressed frustration with Microsoft's email services, detailing issues with reporting delivery problems. He described an arduous process requiring a Microsoft account, which was initially blocked for suspicious activity. The contact form for reporting issues was pre-filled with an invalid email address. Even after fixing the form, Ivan felt the submission itself was likely an error. Michael R. struggled with the pricing for "Mango Math," making a joke about buying cheesecake by the slice. The humor stemmed from the misunderstanding of old currency versus new metric pricing. He clarified that the price was 3 pence per gram, not per slice, which was less amusing. Clint mentioned receiving an email from Bigbadtoystore about preorders, linking it to the New Mexico DOT website builders.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/hello-new-mexico thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Aug 21

Error'd: Failure, After Failure, After Failure...

Foo shared a Chromium error where frame latency was negative, questioning the logic in its message. Foo also recounted a significant temperature drop during a Spanish eclipse, which was much more than expected. dragoncoder047 commented on the title, hinting at a flaw. Chris A. greeted New Mexico and observed unfinished buttons on a DOT website. Basti presented a "Failure Fail" scenario, expressing confusion about success and failure.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/failure-after-failure-after-failure thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Aug 21

Representative Line: We All Register This

The author contrasts the frustrations of bad software documentation with the even greater challenges posed by poorly written hardware datasheets. Finding accurate and complete documentation for integrated circuits is crucial for developers. Datasheets are often incomplete, inaccurate, or even in different languages. The complexity of modern chips necessitates detailed datasheets, but some vendors provide inadequate information, forcing users to reverse-engineer functionality. Discrepancies between datasheets and actual chip behavior can lead to critical errors, such as misidentifying power pins and damaging components. While some vendors produce excellent datasheets, cost considerations in the embedded space often lead to poorly documented hardware. The author recounts a specific instance where a chip's datasheet described a "Super User Fantastic Feature Enable Register." This register was humorously abbreviated as "SUFFER," reflecting the developer's experience with difficult embedded projects. Enabling this feature was intended for advanced users to alter debugging behavior. The reset value for this register was all ones, indicating it was enabled by default. The name "SUFFER" register aptly captures the feeling of dealing with such challenging documentation.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/we-all-register-this thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Aug 20

CodeSOD: Back to the Lab

Matlab is favored by scientists and researchers but disliked by many programmers. A team using Matlab faced a challenge generating participant-specific images for storage and later reference. Existing constraints made this task difficult within their current setup. A programmer named Jude proposed a workaround to solve this problem. The provided Matlab code aims to process experimental trigger data. It uses a switch statement within a for loop to cycle through different trigger types. The code attempts to reconstruct the intended pattern by counting stimuli and handling various response and non-response scenarios. Comments within the code highlight complex logic and potential data corruption issues. One comment explicitly mentions marking entire trials for deletion due to uncertainty about correct data. It was discovered that a significant portion of the provided logs represented different, unknown experiments.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/back-to-the-lab thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Aug 19

Floating Along

The author describes a data migration from one Microsoft platform to another, which encountered an unexpected issue. Initially, data extraction and loading were being handled by SSIS, but the author switched to PowerShell for more control. The goal was to migrate customer documents and metadata from SharePoint on-premises to a SQL Server database. A key field, the customer number, was stored as a Number type in SharePoint. Under the hood, SharePoint's Number fields are represented as Doubles, which is sufficient for accurate storage of ten-digit numbers. However, the SSIS-generated SQL Server schema used a 'float' data type for this field. The author incorrectly assumed that the '.Net' type 'float' in their PowerShell script would perfectly align with the SQL Server 'float' type. This mismatch occurred because SQL Server's 'float' defaults to double-precision, but the author didn't realize this difference in representation. Consequently, when numbers were transferred and converted, large customer numbers lost their last few digits due to precision loss. While testers initially missed the error, it was discovered during the full data load. The team had to identify the corrupted numbers and manually correct them after the migration.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/floating-along thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Aug 18

The State of Ticketing

Software development requires various supporting tools beyond just editors and compilers. Source control is a prime example of an essential tool. However, many crucial development tools are arguably not "good," but merely "good enough." Build systems are one such category, lacking truly excellent options. Ticket and task management tools also fall into this problematic category, with Jira being a particularly criticized example. Jira's appeal to companies lies in its extensive features, which unfortunately lead to complexity and require users to program custom workflows. This can result in endless configuration by project managers instead of actual project progress. Jira allows for defining ticket workflows as state machines, including automated routing between team members. The text then introduces Klinsten, who encountered a confusing Jira workflow. The example workflow displayed is bilingual (Dutch and English) and overly complex. This excessive number of states and transitions undermines its purpose of clarifying work sequencing for the team. The author expresses frustration, likening the experience to wanting to close a browser tab. The complexity of Klinsten's workflow makes it difficult to understand and use effectively.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/the-state-of-ticketing thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Aug 17

Error'd: Zero to Zero in 0 seconds

The conversation starts with excitement about a large jackpot, with Kivi S. expressing enthusiasm and finding an ad with many zeroes, indicating a significant prize. However, not everyone shares the excitement, as some anonymous individuals express cynicism and skepticism, questioning the idea of success and the reliability of certain sources. Michael R. joins the conversation, making humorous comments about crashing and hiding PHP code, and also criticizing the code quality of a 30-year-old website, El Reg, which he believes should be more mature. The conversation is interrupted by an advertisement for BuildMaster, a self-service release management platform that allows different teams to manage their applications, which seems unrelated to the preceding discussion.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/zero-to-zero-in-0-seconds thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Aug 14

CodeSOD: Never Eating the Cookie

Maciej, a freelancer, often encounters legacy PHP code needing support. He discovered a project with missing key features, specifically an HTTP request mechanism to populate data on an interval. Previous attempts to implement this had failed. The original developer had copied and pasted similar cURL initialization and configuration blocks multiple times throughout the codebase. These blocks, containing numerous curl_setopt calls, were intended to make HTTP requests. One such option, CURLOPT_TIMEOUT, was set using a variable named $interval, possibly indicating a misunderstanding of its function. The core issue wasn't necessarily the incorrect use of CURLOPT_TIMEOUT, but rather that the data fetched by curl_exec was never utilized. Despite the requests seemingly working, the retrieved content was stored in a variable $s and then ignored. This oversight led Maciej to believe the previous developer may have started the task but lost interest, rather than being unable to make the requests function. While the project contained other complex code, this unused data retrieval was particularly noticeable to Maciej.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/never-eating-the-cookie thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Aug 13

Branching Paths

Indika was reviewing comments on her pull request when her boss, Bill, approached her. Bill admonished her for submitting the pull request, stating it was against team policy. He insisted she had not read the developer guide. Indika had read the company-wide guide, but Bill had his own separate guide for his team that he never shared. This guide prohibited branching and merging, advocating for direct commits to the main branch. Indika confirmed with a coworker, Elise, that this policy was indeed real. Elise explained that the team avoided branching and pull requests when Bill was around but used them otherwise to maintain good practices. Weeks later, Indika asked Bill about his policy on branching during a private moment. Bill explained his rationale, stemming from years of experience, arguing that branches create conflicts and stale code. He believed they were unnecessary for internal teams, likening them to developers being distracted by new shiny toys. Indika, contemplating his words, looked out at squirrels playing in tree branches.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/branching-paths thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Aug 12

CodeSOD: Public Private Partnership

A developer found a discrepancy within an API's concurrency handling code. The comment for a status property stated it should be private to prevent misuse. However, the property's definition declared it as public. This public definition allows external consumers to modify the status, contradicting the comment's intention. The author highlights the irony of expecting API users to read documentation and adhere to suggested privacy of public methods. Such a mismatch is particularly concerning within a concurrency API. The potential for misuse and resulting chaos is emphasized. Despite the risk, the code remains publicly accessible, with only the comment serving as a warning. This highlights a common oversight where documentation and implementation diverge.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/public-private-partnership thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Aug 11

The Crossroads

The narrator, a Tech Support drone, decided to resign from their company, rejecting a promotion. Shortly after, the new head of HR, Leila, emailed, inviting the narrator to the executive floor, sparking nervousness and curiosity. The narrator met with Leila, who expressed condolences for the narrator's deceased mentor, Aggie. Leila revealed she had fired a problematic manager the narrator had reported, establishing a rapport. She then offered the narrator the lead position on a new Change Management team, with a significant promotion and the ability to recruit internally. The narrator, despite the appealing offer, decided to stick with their original plan of going freelance with friends. Leila accepted the decision gracefully, offering support and expressing sadness at the narrator's departure. The narrator then informed their friends, Megan and Reynaldo, about Leila's offer, but they, too, were committed to their freelance plans. Sanjay also joined their freelance venture, and a former colleague, "Dracula," provided their first client referral. The narrator and friends established "RD IT Solutions," a flat-hierarchy company covering expenses, and began navigating the challenges of entrepreneurship. The narrator experienced a renewed sense of purpose, relief from past anxieties, and a healthier lifestyle. Their first client presented an unexpected challenge, requesting website code via fax.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/the-crossroads thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Aug 10

Error'd: Time Wounds All Heels

This post humorously explores several instances of technology mishandling time, leading to absurd situations. Robert received an email from OnePlus stating his delivery date was "Yesterday," implying the driver would need to time travel. Kinkster found an interesting bug on Fetlife, where a new member's profile picture seemed to be posted an hour before they joined the community. ERIC P. shared a photo of his 2008 Ford, which experienced a GPS date rollover bug, causing its display to show a date from 1024 weeks in the past. Marc Würth observed peculiar crawling statistics on Netvibes, showing a feed being fetched 261 years in the future before normalizing. An anonymous user jokingly reported receiving parcels before the Roman conquest of Britain, with the combined notification date defaulting to the Unix epoch. These anecdotes highlight common software glitches related to date and time calculations. The post connects these seemingly random bugs to the theme of time travel. It emphasizes how often time handling code can fail in unexpected ways. The featured examples span various types of software and hardware. Each instance provides a lighthearted look at programming challenges.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/time-wounds-all-heels thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Aug 7

A More Civilized Age

Greta is experiencing issues with her "Ancient Development Environment" IDE. A crucial function of an IDE is to report build errors to users. However, the error display in Greta's IDE is problematic. The error is inconsistent, doesn't explain the cause, and offers no solutions. The primary "WTF" aspect is its display method. It appears as an arbitrary popup during the build process, under unknown conditions. The error message provides no information on what went wrong. It's presented in a non-user-legible XHTML format, showing the raw markup rather than a rendered page. This markup is displayed in a bizarre tree view, with each source line as a separate row. Furthermore, the XHTML markup itself is malformed. The text lacks anti-aliasing, indicating a legacy windowing toolkit. One button, "Get latest C++ Builder Direct headlines from the Internet," is non-functional, a relic from an era when web integration was a novelty. Interestingly, another button, "Information about C++ Builder Direct," offers a nostalgic glimpse into 90s web design with basic CSS instructions.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/a-more-civilized-age thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Aug 6

CodeSOD: Connection State

Frederick A. shares a null-checking problem in the IsCalling method of a ConferenceService class. This method attempts to determine if a web conference is active by accessing IsWebRTCConnected through a potentially null object chain: m_ConnectionService.Core.State.IsWebRTCConnected. The original code uses a try/catch block to handle potential NullReferenceExceptions, returning false if any part of the chain is null. This approach effectively masks the underlying issue of uninitialized objects. Frederick proposes using the C# null-coalescing operator (?.) as a direct fix, which would concisely return false if any object in the chain is null, like so: m_ConnectionService?.Core?.State?.IsWebRTCConnected ?? false. While this is a functional solution, the author argues it's not a fundamental fix for the deeper architectural problem. The core issue lies in how connection state is managed, suggesting it should be handled by a proper state machine. Relying on a deep object chain with boolean flags for critical state information is indicative of a poor design choice. Although a full state machine implementation would be a more robust solution, the author acknowledges it requires significant refactoring. However, the example serves as a strong reminder for developers to carefully consider their state management strategies to avoid such null-checking complexities.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/connection-state thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Aug 5

CodeSOD: Always Take the Option

The provided code snippet demonstrates a misuse of Optional types, even for a frequent submitter. It checks if a string is non-empty and then wraps the non-null dto in Optional.ofNullable. This practice negates the intended benefit of Optional, which is to handle potentially null values gracefully. Essentially, it avoids using the convenient syntactic sugar that Optional provides for boxing types. While not inherently problematic in isolation, this pattern is pervasive throughout the codebase. The author notes that Optional types are widely scattered, even in functions not returning nullable types. This widespread and incorrect application of Optional does not improve code quality or reduce bugs. Instead, it contributes to buggy and error-prone code. The author expresses skepticism about the likelihood of this issue ever being fixed. This highlights a common problem where powerful language features are misunderstood and misapplied. The excessive boxing and unboxing adds unnecessary complexity. It ultimately defeats the purpose of using Optional to prevent null reference exceptions. This example serves as a cautionary tale about the improper adoption of modern programming constructs.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/always-take-the-option thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Aug 4

Lose Some Padding

Flat-file databases, common on mainframes, store data in fixed-width fields. A typical entry like "JOHN SMITH 12343rd St" relies on knowing that "JOHN" occupies 8 characters, "SMITH" 8, and so on. This rigid structure makes modifications, like adding a middle initial, extremely difficult, often requiring a new table, data migration, and updates to all consuming software.To mitigate this, smart developers introduced "padding," reserving extra characters within a record. For instance, a record might end with 16 characters of unused space. When a new field is needed, like a middle initial, it can be inserted by shrinking the padding, avoiding changes to the overall record length. This method, though inelegant, prevents costly schema reworks and data shuffling.Padding is often distributed throughout the record, allowing new columns to consume these reserved spaces. While eventually padding might run out, this strategy significantly extends the operational life of a flat-file schema without major overhauls.Brenda's team supported a mainframe system using such VSAM flat files, necessitating data extraction into a modern RDBMS. An ETL process was created, with the mainframe team providing a "copybook" detailing the file structure.However, the ETL developers mishandled the padding, splitting fields such that parts of the padding were treated as distinct data elements. Initially, this seemed harmless, as padding characters were stripped from reports, and reconstruction worked by concatenating fields.The critical error was testing only against the production mainframe, which lacked in-flight features consuming padding. When these features went live on the production mainframe, the reports generated by the ETL process became corrupted with extraneous data from the now-used padding.Since the ETL developers were contractors and their solution "worked as designed" based on their limited testing, they refused to rework it. Consequently, the mainframe team was forced to find alternative padding fields to avoid impacting existing reports.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/lose-some-padding thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Aug 3

Error'd: I Believe In Lingonberries

One individual expresses a strong preference for IKEA meatballs over their furniture. Another person, Jan, shares a similar, immeasurable loyalty to the Swedish megastore. Jeffphi found the process of choosing concert seats for a Rick Springfield show surprisingly difficult and left with unanswered questions. Richard H. experienced an unexpected and frustrating error message while composing an email, questioning Microsoft's software testing. An anonymous user left an insult, indicating a negative experience with something unspecified. WeaponizedFun points out the irony of a company, OnSolve, instructing users to protect their username while refusing to disclose it to them. The concept of a true secret is defined as something known only to one person. This is directly illustrated by OnSolve's policy regarding usernames. Finally, an advertisement offers a free guide for planning a .NET 9 migration confidently.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/i-believe-in-lingonberries thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Jul 31

CodeSOD: Negative Days

The .NET source code for the TimeSpan struct contains a comment explaining its functionality. A TimeSpan represents a duration that can be either positive or negative. Internally, it's stored as a number of milliseconds. This representation works well for units like hours and days but becomes imprecise for longer periods. For example, months can vary in length from 28 to 31 days. Similarly, a year can have 365 or 366 days, and a decade can contain one to three leap years. These inconsistencies are why the TimeSpan struct does not offer methods for years or months. The "364 days" mentioned for a year is a minor error, a "fat-finger typo," as the author calls it, that doesn't affect the code's behavior. This comment has remained in the code for twelve years without alteration. The TimeSpan class itself, being essentially a millisecond wrapper, has also seen no changes. More complex date calculations like adding months or years are handled by other date-time objects. While not a major issue, the comment and the class's history are noteworthy. The TimeSpan class also reveals deprecated constructors and compile-time support for older .NET versions, including Silverlight. Silverlight, a defunct technology, highlights the class's long-standing presence.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/negative-days thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Jul 30

Representative Line: Something Wonderful

A provided comment states a function "Does something wonderful." The author of the text expresses concern that the ambiguity of "wonderful" can lead to misinterpretation due to the lack of tone in text. Mark W. clarifies that this comment is not representative of the entire codebase, which is otherwise well-written. Despite this, the current comment still effectively describes its specific section of the codebase.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/something-wonderful thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Jul 29

CodeSOD: Convert Back, Way Back

Windows Presentation Foundation is a UI framework for Windows that allows controls to be data-bound, meaning a text box can be linked to a numeric field in a model class. The framework requires instructions on how to convert custom types, which is where the IValueConverter interface comes in. This interface has two methods, Convert and ConvertBack, which can be used to convert data between types. A class that implements this interface can be used to convert a color into a brush, for example. However, the API for this interface is not well-liked, and the naming convention can be confusing. A submission by Fredrika highlights a problem with the built-in converter, which does not turn empty strings into nulls when binding a text box to a double field. A custom converter was written to address this issue, but the implementation is not ideal, with poorly named variables and unclear logic. The converter casts the value as a double when converting and as a string when converting back, which can lead to confusion. The overall approach to using converters in WPF is not well-liked, and this implementation does not help to clarify matters. The use of converters to treat empty text boxes as null values may also lead to problems in the future. Overall, the converter API and its implementation in this case are not well-designed and can lead to confusion and potential issues.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/convert-back-way-back thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Jul 28

The Hard Goodbye

The narrator is struggling to cope with the sudden loss of their friend and mentor, Aggie Shaw, who died of a sudden illness. The narrator is overwhelmed with grief and finds it impossible to return to work as usual, despite their boss's expectations. They start using their paid time off to deal with their emotions and try to come to terms with the loss. The narrator's friend Megan reaches out and offers to meet up, providing a much-needed listening ear and a sense of comfort. During their meeting, the narrator opens up about their feelings and frustrations with their job, and Megan suggests that they could start their own IT group with equal partners. The narrator is inspired by the idea and starts to explore options, including going freelance and starting a new business with Megan. As they research and plan, they find a sense of purpose and excitement, despite the risks and uncertainties. The narrator returns to work, but only to give their two-week notice and start making plans for a new future. They find a symbol of Aggie's presence, a rubber duck, in her old office, which gives them a sense of connection and motivation to move forward. The narrator is determined to leave their old job behind and start a new chapter in their life, with Megan by their side. The narrator's decision to leave their job is not just about escaping a difficult work environment, but about finding a new sense of purpose and fulfillment.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/the-hard-goodbye thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Jul 27

Error'd: The Song that Never Ends?

Scammers insist on users watching content to the end, a task humorously presented as a long-term commitment in today's "Error'd" episode. Amazon recently generated widespread concern by sending out significantly overpriced bills to thousands of customers, causing considerable alarm. One customer, Willy, expressed worry over the sudden increase in Amazon prices and anticipated financial scrutiny. Dave A. highlighted a software prompt's indecisiveness, questioning whether an action was optional or required. An anonymous user discovered a unique 5-star rating system displayed on both X and Y axes for a roof-cleaning company, humorously noting it was "out of the roof." Richard H. encountered a suspicious QuickBooks email referencing a randomly generated invoice number, strongly suggesting it was a scam. B.J. H. received an unusually verbose and alarming system message, raising concerns about emergency protocols if such text was considered "normal." The episode also included an advertisement for a guide on migrating to .NET 9, promising to alleviate migration difficulties.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/the-song-that-never-ends thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Jul 24

Classic WTF: My Many Girlfriends

Remy humorously suggests retreating to a dark, unventilated cave due to unpleasant weather. This sentiment echoes a past workplace dynamic where managers tolerated eccentric software developers. In the late 90s, with the IT boom, managers were accustomed to unusual behavior from their developers. When hiring Sten, who had glowing recommendations, Barry and his team prepared for eccentricity.On his first day, Sten requested a workspace with no natural light and closable ventilation. Barry discovered Sten's office in the basement, where Sten was removing fluorescent bulbs to darken the space. Sten spoke exclusively in the third person, referring to himself as "Sten" and using pronouns in a confusing manner. He also consumed large amounts of vitamins and a peculiar-smelling tea.Sten's coding style was equally peculiar, using female first names for all variables and methods, named after his supposed girlfriends. While some naming conventions existed, they were undocumented and difficult to decipher. Code reviews became elaborate narratives, making it hard to understand the actual logic.Despite his eccentricities and coding style, Sten's primary downfall was his slow productivity. He couldn't keep pace with the team's demands, leading to his termination. Barry later provided a cautious reference to another company, suggesting they have Sten explain his code. Sten was not hired by that company, and Barry received a thank-you gift basket.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/classic-wtf-my-many-girlfriends thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Jul 23

Classic WTF: Server Room Fans and More Fun

Technicians face recurring challenges with poorly maintained infrastructure and unconventional solutions. One common issue arises from an underpowered air conditioner, prompting a warning to watch for trip hazards near an open server room door. Another technician struggled with a fax machine that only worked sporadically in wet weather, despite extensive troubleshooting and line testing. The problem was eventually traced to an exposed telco vault where cables were left unprotected, leading to a prompt fix after photographic evidence was sent to management.Another unsettling discovery involved an "off-site backup" drive haphazardly placed on a wooden server rack within a software company. Further examples of makeshift solutions include the use of unconventional wiring that deviates from standard electrical practices, preferring exposed connections over proper installations. A hotel in Manhattan revealed its network equipment hanging precariously from cables in a public stairwell, completely unsecured. In China, a switch was found bolted several meters high to a column in a metal shop, highlighting more unusual installations in industrial settings.These incidents underscore a pervasive lack of professional standards in IT infrastructure management across various environments. They suggest a pattern of improvisation and neglect rather than adherence to best practices.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/classic-wtf-server-room-fans-and-more-fun thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Jul 22

CodeSOD: Classic WTF: Fork and Log

Remy recounts an incident involving a VXML Platform performance issue encountered by Adam C. The system was failing under minimal load, and the project was already behind schedule. Adam, unfamiliar with VXML, began by examining application logs for clues. He repeatedly found an error message stating "Exception encountered writing error log." This cryptic message puzzled Adam, as it reported an error in logging itself. Delving into the source code, he discovered a deeply flawed logging implementation. The code used an external command to log errors, rather than leveraging existing logging frameworks like log4j or even a simple System.out.println. Adam found this approach inefficient and poorly designed. Although this specific code was not the root cause of the performance issues, it was quickly removed. The anecdote highlights a common type of technical debt found in legacy systems.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/classic-wtf-fork-and-log thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Jul 21

CodeSOD: Classic WTF: The Table Selector

The article revisits classic code examples during summer break, starting with a discussion of source code. The author, Christian, notes that in German, "quellcode" directly translates to "source code." He humorously coins a new term, "quäl-kot," which combines a German expletive with "source code," to describe particularly egregious code. This evocative term is inspired by a poorly designed interface encountered in the codebase.The problematic interface is presented as a C# code snippet. It is named ITableSelector and contains an excessive number of methods for selecting tables. Specifically, it has methods like selectTable1(), selectTable2(), and numerous variants for tables like 4a/4b, 7a/7b, 9a/9b, 14a/14b/14c/14d, and 21a/21b. The interface continues to list methods all the way up to selectTable31(). This extensive and repetitive list highlights the interface's design flaws. The sheer volume of similar methods indicates a lack of abstraction or a poorly structured solution. Such an interface suggests potential problems with maintainability and extensibility.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/classic-wtf-the-table-selector thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Jul 20

Error'd: Princess Pricing

Sam speculates Disney+ might be testing usage-based billing due to an error. However, a more common explanation is likely. An online shopping site displayed illogical pricing, offering a discount on an item with a price of zero. Harrison observed a supermarket item marked with a reverse price change, showing zero as the original price and 99 dollars as the new price. The discount was paradoxically described as negative infinity percent. Dragoncoder047 encountered mojibake on their iPhone's Game Center widget despite the device being set to English. Evelyn reported a package tracking anomaly where an item was registered in July, shipped in January, and then returned to July. This timeline inconsistency is not attributed to simple time zone issues. These examples highlight various online and real-world glitches. The errors range from billing possibilities to pricing absurdities and display mishaps. They showcase unexpected digital and logistical anomalies encountered by users.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/princess-pricing thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Jul 17

CodeSOD: Wait Longer

Karen encountered flakiness in her specification tests, occurring a few times per thousand runs. These complex, timing-sensitive tests failed occasionally despite generous timing windows and passing unit tests. The issue stemmed from JavaScript's setTimeout, which, unlike its documentation suggesting it may wait longer, can actually invoke callbacks before the specified time elapses in Node.js. Karen's simple wait function initially used setTimeout to introduce delays. After extensive debugging, she discovered this timing inconsistency was the root cause of her flaky tests. To resolve this, she rewrote the wait function to continuously check the elapsed time every millisecond. This new function ensures the operation completes only after the target duration has been met, preventing premature timeouts. While effective, this solution is considered inefficient and highlights the problematic time sensitivity of functional tests. It also points to a deficiency in the Node.js runtime's scheduling guarantees. The author expresses dismay that such a workaround is necessary.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/wait-longer thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Jul 16

CodeSOD: The Error Check

The codebase is primarily written in C, where function return values typically indicate status codes. The standard convention is to check if a boolean return value is true for success. However, a long-time developer introduced a confusing alternative idiom. This developer checks if the boolean return value is false to signify an error. This practice has become the prevailing convention within the project due to the developer's tenure. Consequently, any potential error condition involves checking if a variable named 'error' is equal to FALSE. While consistent within its own framework, this convention is not formally documented. New developers often initially adhere to the standard pattern. However, the sheer volume of existing code with the non-standard pattern influences them. This established codebase possesses a strong inertia that shapes new code. The existing code effectively dictates the development style, rather than developers altering the code.

https://thedailywtf.com/articles/the-error-check thedailywtf.com

RSS Hunter • Jul 15