Best of 2021

The blog posts Hacker News loved most in 2021. 144 posts.

Programming Languages
94

Racket v8.3

_posted by John Clements_ Racket version 8.3 is now available from https://download.racket-lang.org. Racket removes syntax arming and disarming in favor of a simpler system of protected syntax operations, along with other updates to the syntax sys...

107

C++20 Modules with GCC11

Introduction One of the headline changes of the C++20 standard is the inclusion of modules. Modules promise to significantly change the structure of C++ codebases and possibly signal headers’ ultimate demise (but probably not in my lifetime). It also opens the door to potentially have a unified build system and…

110

Loopless Code (2006)

Most J programs contain no loops equivalent to while and for in C. J does contain while. and for. constructs, but they carry a performance penalty and are a wise choice only when the body of the loop is a time-consuming operation. You are just going to have to learn to learn to code without loops.

116

What Java Modules Are About

When the subject of Java modules comes up in online discussions every so often, I get the sense that many people misunderstand what it is that modules are supposed to do. That's understandable, as the name 'modules' does not evoke the precise purpose of the feature. There are many kinds of modules, even in the Java…