Most cited

Posts that commenters keep linking to, ranked by how many different people have cited them in Hacker News comments. 217 posts.

Software Engineering
2023
61

Eytzinger Binary Search

This tutorial is loosely based on a 46-page paper by Paul-Virak Khuong and Pat Morin “Array layouts for comparison-based searching” and describes one particular way of performing efficient binary search by rearranging elements of a sorted array in a cache-friendly way.

67

Turbo Rascal Syntax Error

TRSE (or its full original name “Turbo Rascal Syntax error, “;” expected but “BEGIN”) is a complete suite (IDE, compiler, programming language, resource editor) intended for developing games/demos for 8 / 16-bit line of computers, with a focus on the MOS 6502, the Motorola 68000, the (GB)Z80, the M6809 and the X86…

73

A dive into the AMD driver workflow

I ended up getting a response from high level people at AMD. It was still very light on any real technical information, but it did include some great phrases like “I am able to replicate the issues you are facing” and some mockable phrases like “We are hoping that this will improve your perception of AMD products and…

74

JSON vs. XML

Today's guest is Douglas Crockford. He's sharing the story of JSON, his discovery of JavaScript's good parts, and his approach to finding a simple way to build software. Also, his battles against XML, against complexity, his battles to say that there's a better way to build software. This is foundational stuff for the…

78

How to improve Python packaging

There is an area of Python that many developers have problems with. This is an area that has seen many different solutions pop up over the years, with many different opinions, wars, and attempts to solve it. Many have complained about the packaging ecosystem and tools making their lives harder. Many beginners are…

80

Zig and Rust

This post will be a bit all over the place. Several months ago, I wrote Hard Mode Rust, exploring an allocation-conscious style of programming. In the ensuing discussion, @jamii name-dropped TigerBeetle, a reliable, distributed, fast, and small database written in Zig in a similar style, and, well, I now find myself…

82

Why Htmx Does Not Have a Build Step

In this essay, Alexander Petros explores the reasons why the htmx JavaScript library does not include a build step, detailing the benefits of its simple, dependency-free structure. He highlights the longevity of plain JavaScript, the improved debugging experience, enforced code clarity, and the tradeoffs of avoiding…