Difference between revisions of "Talk:2200: Unreachable State"
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When I tried to go here originally, it was unreachable. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.107.61|162.158.107.61]] 03:54, 11 September 2019 (UTC) | When I tried to go here originally, it was unreachable. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.107.61|162.158.107.61]] 03:54, 11 September 2019 (UTC) | ||
+ | :Yes that was really a funny coincidence, although it lasted a bit too long. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:37, 11 September 2019 (UTC) | ||
+ | ::Any relation to the user database breach & DDOS attacks that hit some other xkcd community this week?[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 15:00, 11 September 2019 (UTC) | ||
− | + | Nothing about the comic suggests a website. it looks more like the error message of a program. also, i don't think CB is typing it, just reading. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.50.124|172.68.50.124]] 06:20, 11 September 2019 (UTC) | |
+ | :Im positive you are right, Cueball's hands are hovering over the keyboard while he reads this message. The caption is a note to programers not to leave this kind of message to users by writing them when tired. I will correct the explanation and the transcript. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:45, 11 September 2019 (UTC) | ||
+ | |||
+ | ;"Can't happen" | ||
+ | This comic is not about "a problem that the programmers did not anticipate", but rather a situation that the programmer rules out as impossible, which is technically called "Can't happen" or "Impossible Error" in the hacker/programmer's jargon. See http://catb.org/jargon/html/C/can-t-happen.html | ||
+ | |||
+ | For example: | ||
+ | <source lang=php> | ||
+ | for ($i=1;$i<=5;++$i) {echo $i." - ";} | ||
+ | if ($i<10) {echo "Bye!";} else {echo "Can't happen!";} | ||
+ | </source> | ||
+ | [[User:ElfQrin|ElfQrin]] ([[User talk:ElfQrin|talk]]) 07:14, 11 September 2019 (UTC) | ||
+ | |||
+ | Also it helps not to be too cute even with impossible error messages. A colleague left a message along the lines of <q>Application rubbish bin has broken.</q> once. Cue a somewhat perplexed user call several years later… | ||
+ | <blockquote> | ||
+ | “Scientists have calculated that the chances of something so patently absurd actually existing are millions to one. | ||
+ | But magicians have calculated that million-to-one chances crop up nine times out of ten.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | Who is genuinely surprised that Cueball managed to reach the unreachable error condition? | ||
+ | |||
+ | ― Terry Pratchett, Mort | ||
+ | </blockquote> | ||
+ | |||
+ | --[[User:Kventin|Kventin]] ([[User talk:Kventin|talk]]) 07:51, 11 September 2019 (UTC) | ||
+ | : Do you mean "garbage collector"? Because that's not being cute, that's the actual technical term. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.122.30|162.158.122.30]] 13:24, 11 September 2019 (UTC) | ||
+ | |||
+ | The "anything can happen" may be reference to undefined behavior in some programming languages (most famous are C and C++) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Undefined_behavior. And the error message is rather about assertion failure https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assertion_(software_development) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.54|162.158.92.54]] 08:03, 11 September 2019 (UTC) | ||
+ | |||
+ | :Undefined behaviour [https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/?p=633 can even result in time travel]! [[User:Ahiijny|Ahiijny]] ([[User talk:Ahiijny|talk]]) 18:44, 11 September 2019 (UTC) | ||
+ | |||
+ | I rewrote the intro from a developer's perspective, since I'm pretty sure this is more about coding than about websites. Would be nice to add something about assertions there too. [[User:Hawthorn|Hawthorn]] ([[User talk:Hawthorn|talk]]) 12:37, 11 September 2019 (UTC) | ||
+ | |||
+ | It's relatively common to include assertions for certain invariants because it can potentially allow compilers to make better optimizations, though this is usually a sign of premature optimization. [[User:Probably not Douglas Hofstadter|Probably not Douglas Hofstadter]] ([[User talk:Probably not Douglas Hofstadter|talk]]) 15:11, 11 September 2019 (UTC) |
Revision as of 18:50, 11 September 2019
When I tried to go here originally, it was unreachable. 162.158.107.61 03:54, 11 September 2019 (UTC)
- Yes that was really a funny coincidence, although it lasted a bit too long. --Kynde (talk) 09:37, 11 September 2019 (UTC)
- Any relation to the user database breach & DDOS attacks that hit some other xkcd community this week?ProphetZarquon (talk) 15:00, 11 September 2019 (UTC)
Nothing about the comic suggests a website. it looks more like the error message of a program. also, i don't think CB is typing it, just reading. 172.68.50.124 06:20, 11 September 2019 (UTC)
- Im positive you are right, Cueball's hands are hovering over the keyboard while he reads this message. The caption is a note to programers not to leave this kind of message to users by writing them when tired. I will correct the explanation and the transcript. --Kynde (talk) 09:45, 11 September 2019 (UTC)
- "Can't happen"
This comic is not about "a problem that the programmers did not anticipate", but rather a situation that the programmer rules out as impossible, which is technically called "Can't happen" or "Impossible Error" in the hacker/programmer's jargon. See http://catb.org/jargon/html/C/can-t-happen.html
For example:
for ($i=1;$i<=5;++$i) {echo $i." - ";} if ($i<10) {echo "Bye!";} else {echo "Can't happen!";}
ElfQrin (talk) 07:14, 11 September 2019 (UTC)
Also it helps not to be too cute even with impossible error messages. A colleague left a message along the lines of Application rubbish bin has broken.
once. Cue a somewhat perplexed user call several years later…
“Scientists have calculated that the chances of something so patently absurd actually existing are millions to one. But magicians have calculated that million-to-one chances crop up nine times out of ten.”
Who is genuinely surprised that Cueball managed to reach the unreachable error condition?
― Terry Pratchett, Mort
--Kventin (talk) 07:51, 11 September 2019 (UTC)
- Do you mean "garbage collector"? Because that's not being cute, that's the actual technical term. 162.158.122.30 13:24, 11 September 2019 (UTC)
The "anything can happen" may be reference to undefined behavior in some programming languages (most famous are C and C++) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Undefined_behavior. And the error message is rather about assertion failure https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assertion_(software_development) 162.158.92.54 08:03, 11 September 2019 (UTC)
- Undefined behaviour can even result in time travel! Ahiijny (talk) 18:44, 11 September 2019 (UTC)
I rewrote the intro from a developer's perspective, since I'm pretty sure this is more about coding than about websites. Would be nice to add something about assertions there too. Hawthorn (talk) 12:37, 11 September 2019 (UTC)
It's relatively common to include assertions for certain invariants because it can potentially allow compilers to make better optimizations, though this is usually a sign of premature optimization. Probably not Douglas Hofstadter (talk) 15:11, 11 September 2019 (UTC)