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Programming Languages

The most popular blog posts about programming languages on Hacker News. 255 posts.

2021
245

Constexpr is a Platform (2020)

Let me share a useful insight with you: constexpr is a platform. Just like you write code that targets Windows or a microcontroller, you write code that targets compile-time execution. In both cases you restrict yourself to the subset of C++ that works on your target platform, use conditional compilation if your code…

247

Dynamic Queries in Ecto (Elixir Lang)

The macro Ecto Query dynamic/2 allows you to build query fragments and interpolate them into one large query. We get easy-to-manage query building in an accessible way. It allows you to control the parameters from the user and transparently create filtering of data stored in the database.

249

Subclassing in Python Redux

The conflict between subclassing and composition is as old as object-oriented programming. The latest crop of languages like Go or Rust prove that you don’t need subclassing to successfully write code. But what’s a pragmatic approach to subclassing in Python, specifically?

251

Rust: Enums to Wrap Multiple Errors

This is a follow-up to Error handling in Rust from a couple of days ago. The moment we want to use error propagation for different error types, we have to rely on trait objects with Box<dyn Error>, which means we defer a lot of information from compile-time to runtime, for the sake of convenient error handling.

253

Worse Is Better (2001)

The concept known as "worse is better" holds that in software making (and perhaps in other arenas as well) it is better to start with a minimal creation and grow it as needed. Christopher Alexander might call this "piecemeal growth." This is the story of the evolution of that concept.

254

Threaded Code (1999)

What is threaded code? What is it good for? What are the differences between the various threading techniques? How do I implement threaded code portably? How fast are various threading techniques?