1695: Code Quality 2 - Revision history

FaviFake at 13:17, 29 July 2025

2025-07-29T13:17:49Z

FaviFake: This series can only be defined by the 3 main comics. 1700: New Bug is the same as the other two comics, yet it's not in the series. There are other examples in the Category:Cueball Computer Problems, which instead is a good compromise.

2025-07-29T13:11:36Z

This series can only be defined by the 3 main comics. 1700: New Bug is the same as the other two comics, yet it's not in the series. There are other examples in the Category:Cueball Computer Problems, which instead is a good compromise.

FaviFake: /* Title text */

2025-07-29T12:44:13Z

‎Title text

FaviFake: /* Title text */

2025-07-29T12:42:11Z

‎Title text

104.23.198.57: /* Title text */

2025-04-21T18:02:57Z

‎Title text

162.158.74.69: /* E. E. Cummings and usernames */

2024-09-16T11:36:02Z

‎E. E. Cummings and usernames

172.71.31.97: /* Title text */ Weirdly pedantic argument that doesn't add anything to the joke

2024-04-11T02:22:29Z

‎Title text: Weirdly pedantic argument that doesn't add anything to the joke

172.71.151.135: /* Title text */

2024-03-29T15:56:39Z

‎Title text

172.71.242.29: /* Markov bots and bus timetables */ Correcting position (and standard use) of CN.

2024-03-29T15:31:27Z

‎Markov bots and bus timetables: Correcting position (and standard use) of CN.

172.70.162.19: /* E. E. Cummings and usernames / Ok, 90% looks Ok (not too* small), and refined the block margins subtly. Don't want to squeeze the main text too much, but need a little 'grey gap'.

2024-03-29T14:41:54Z

‎E. E. Cummings and usernames: Ok, 90% looks Ok (not *too* small), and refined the block margins subtly. Don't want to squeeze the main text too much, but need a little 'grey gap'.

@@ Line 93: / Line 93: @@
 [[Category:Programming]]
 [[Category:Computers]]
-[[Category:Cueball Computer Problems]]
+[[Category:Cueball's computer problems]]

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 ==Explanation==
-This comic is the second in the [[:Category:Code Quality|Code Quality]] series:
+This comic is the second in the [[:Category:Code Quality|Code Quality series]]:
 * [[1513: Code Quality]]
 * [[1695: Code Quality 2]]
 * [[1833: Code Quality 3]]
-Although [[Cueball]] is not seen in this comic, we can surmise that he is speaking from off-panel based on continuity with [[1513: Code Quality]].
+Although [[Cueball]] is not seen in this comic, we can surmise that he is speaking from off-panel based on continuity with [[1513: Code Quality]]. As in the first comic in the series, we again see [[Ponytail]] being introduced to the messy {{w|source code}} Cueball has written. This comic evidently takes place some time later, as Ponytail now appears to be familiar with Cueball's code, and dreads reading it. In this comic, she continues the trend started in the first comic by using a parade of vivid similes to convey the incomprehensible nature of Cueball's code.
 ===OCR, Scrabble, and Javascript-reserved words===

@@ Line 68: / Line 68: @@
 ===Title text===
-In the title text, Ponytail compares the code to a formal grammar, which is a way of describing a set of strings by providing a list of mapping rules that generate those strings. The resulting output would be a laborious list of rules which would all randomly reference each other, akin to {{w|spaghetti code}}. Furthermore, she suggests that the grammar is based on fragments of a raw {{w|database dump}}, which would be an export of the data from a database in a "raw" format that contains no processing that would make it easy for humans to read. {{w|QuickBooks}} is an accounting software package, which could imply that the code Cueball has written is related to finance in some way. If the company using QuickBooks is embroiled in an accounting scandal, their database is likely already in a mess, even in human-readable format, [https://www.businessinsider.com/ftx-ceo-said-company-used-quickbooks-like-scene-breaking-bad-2022-12 especially if they are a medium- or large-sized company].
+In the title text, Ponytail compares the code to a formal grammar, which is a way of describing a set of strings by providing a list of mapping rules that generate those strings. The resulting output would be a laborious list of rules which would all randomly reference each other, akin to {{w|spaghetti code}}. Furthermore, she suggests that the grammar is based on fragments of a raw {{w|database dump}}, which would be an export of the data from a database in a "raw" format that contains no processing that would make it easy for humans to read. {{w|QuickBooks}} is an accounting software meant for small companies, which could imply that the code Cueball has written is related to finance in some way. If the company using QuickBooks is embroiled in an accounting scandal, their database is likely already in a mess, even in human-readable format, [https://www.businessinsider.com/ftx-ceo-said-company-used-quickbooks-like-scene-breaking-bad-2022-12 especially if they are a medium- or large-sized company].
 ==Transcript==

@@ Line 68: / Line 68: @@
 ===Title text===
-In the title text, Ponytail compares the code to a formal grammar, which is a way of describing a set of strings by providing a list of mapping rules that generate those strings. The resulting output would be a laborious list of rules which would all randomly reference each other, akin to {{w|spaghetti code}}. Furthermore, she suggests that the grammar is based on fragments of a raw {{w|database dump}}, which would be an export of the data from a database in a "raw" format that contains no processing that would make it easy for humans to read. {{w|QuickBooks}} is an accounting software package, which could imply that the code Cueball has written is related to finance in some way. If the company using QuickBooks is embroiled in an accounting scandal, their database is likely already in a mess, even in human-readable format.
+In the title text, Ponytail compares the code to a formal grammar, which is a way of describing a set of strings by providing a list of mapping rules that generate those strings. The resulting output would be a laborious list of rules which would all randomly reference each other, akin to {{w|spaghetti code}}. Furthermore, she suggests that the grammar is based on fragments of a raw {{w|database dump}}, which would be an export of the data from a database in a "raw" format that contains no processing that would make it easy for humans to read. {{w|QuickBooks}} is an accounting software package, which could imply that the code Cueball has written is related to finance in some way. If the company using QuickBooks is embroiled in an accounting scandal, their database is likely already in a mess, even in human-readable format, [https://www.businessinsider.com/ftx-ceo-said-company-used-quickbooks-like-scene-breaking-bad-2022-12 especially if they are a medium- or large-sized company].
 ==Transcript==

@@ Line 68: / Line 68: @@
 ===Title text===
-In the title text, Ponytail compares the code to a formal grammar, which is a way of describing a set of strings by providing a list of mapping rules that generate those strings. The resulting output would be a laborious list of rules which would all randomly reference each other, akin to {{w|spaghetti code}}. Furthermore, she suggests that the grammar is based on fragments of a raw {{w|database dump}}, which would be an export of the data from a database in a "raw" format that contains no processing to make it easy for humans to read. {{w|QuickBooks}} is an accounting software package, which could imply that the code Cueball has written is related to finance in some way. If the company using QuickBooks is embroiled in an accounting scandal, their database is likely already in a mess, even in human-readable format.
+In the title text, Ponytail compares the code to a formal grammar, which is a way of describing a set of strings by providing a list of mapping rules that generate those strings. The resulting output would be a laborious list of rules which would all randomly reference each other, akin to {{w|spaghetti code}}. Furthermore, she suggests that the grammar is based on fragments of a raw {{w|database dump}}, which would be an export of the data from a database in a "raw" format that contains no processing that would make it easy for humans to read. {{w|QuickBooks}} is an accounting software package, which could imply that the code Cueball has written is related to finance in some way. If the company using QuickBooks is embroiled in an accounting scandal, their database is likely already in a mess, even in human-readable format.
 ==Transcript==

@@ Line 54: / Line 54: @@
 Ponytail's third simile references famous poet {{w|E. E. Cummings}}. Edward Estlin Cummings was a poet who used capitalization, punctuation, and line breaks in unconventional ways, suggesting that Cueball's naming conventions are esoteric and hard to follow. She follows this up by restricting the vocabulary to "the usernames a website suggests when the one you want is taken". Websites that offer membership typically require users to create a username that uniquely identifies them. This means that two people cannot have the same username, so if you try to request a name that's already in use, the website will ask you to pick another. Some websites try to help out by suggesting alternative usernames which are close to, but not quite the same as, the one they requested.
-For example, if the username "Hedgeclipper" is already taken, the site may recommend "Hedgeclipper1234" or "H3dg3clipp3r" instead, depending on the algorithm behind the suggestions. These names are usually harder to read and less elegant than the one the user actually wanted. An E. E. Cummings poem written entirely out of these semi-random suggestions would make the resulting poem even more "unusual" than his work is already considered.
+For example, if the username "[[119: Worst Band Name Ever|Hedgeclipper]]" is already taken, the site may recommend "Hedgeclipper1234" or "H3dg3clipp3r" instead, depending on the algorithm behind the suggestions. These names are usually harder to read and less elegant than the one the user actually wanted. An E. E. Cummings poem written entirely out of these semi-random suggestions would make the resulting poem even more "unusual" than his work is already considered.
 ===Markov bots and bus timetables===

@@ Line 65: / Line 65: @@
 Cueball finally comments that "… it runs fine for now" which indicates he knows the code has problems but is reluctant to fix them because it's more-or-less serving its function. This is a well-known cop-out in software development, and is considered poor practice - the fact that the code is running ''for now'', or runs in the specific circumstances the developer tested it in, does not mean that it is well-written, or that it will integrate with other parts of the system, or that it will continue to run reliably in the future.
-Ponytail quips back that "So does a burning bus", which also meets Cueball's low standard - a burning bus can still drive despite being on fire, but most people would not enjoy traveling in such a vehicle{{Template:Citation needed}}, and there will eventually come a point where the fire will endanger the occupants and interfere with the operation of the bus. This could be the reason the buses are always crashing in Ponytail's hypothetical scenario.
+Ponytail quips back that "So does a burning bus", which also meets Cueball's low standard - a burning bus can still drive despite being on fire, but most people would not enjoy traveling in such a vehicle,{{Citation needed}} and there will eventually come a point where the fire will endanger the occupants and interfere with the operation of the bus. This could be the reason the buses are always crashing in Ponytail's hypothetical scenario.
 ===Title text===

@@ Line 38: / Line 38: @@
 ===E. E. Cummings and usernames===
-<div class="poem" style="float: right; clear: both; margin: auto;">
+<div class="poem" style="float: right; clear: both; margin: 0 0.5em; font-size: 90%">
   <pre class="poem preformatted">Buffalo Bill's
 defunct

1695: Code Quality 2 - Revision history

FaviFake at 13:17, 29 July 2025

FaviFake: This series can only be defined by the 3 main comics. 1700: New Bug is the same as the other two comics, yet it's not in the series. There are other examples in the Category:Cueball Computer Problems, which instead is a good compromise.

FaviFake: /* Title text */

FaviFake: /* Title text */

104.23.198.57: /* Title text */

162.158.74.69: /* E. E. Cummings and usernames */

172.71.31.97: /* Title text */ Weirdly pedantic argument that doesn't add anything to the joke

172.71.151.135: /* Title text */

172.71.242.29: /* Markov bots and bus timetables */ Correcting position (and standard use) of CN.

172.70.162.19: /* E. E. Cummings and usernames */ Ok, 90% looks Ok (not *too* small), and refined the block margins subtly. Don't want to squeeze the main text too much, but need a little 'grey gap'.

172.70.162.19: /* E. E. Cummings and usernames / Ok, 90% looks Ok (not too* small), and refined the block margins subtly. Don't want to squeeze the main text too much, but need a little 'grey gap'.