5 ms·

It saddens me that a developer decided to stuff json into the registry, when it's perfectly possible to instead store nice and compact binary data structures. B

It saddens me that a developer decided to stuff json into the registry, when it's perfectly possible to instead store nice and compact binary data structures. But this is 2021, can't have efficient data representation anymore.

rdiddly 5y ago
I was, not quite saddened, but surprised, to see JSON in the registry recently. I forget where it was though or what I was doing.
- yabones 5y ago
  I've seen XML hex encoded before. That was from a Toshiba printer driver on win 7. This seems like the logical next step...
babypuncher 5y ago
I prefer data be serialized into something human readable wherever there is any chance a person might want to edit it manually. Storage is dirt cheap and de-serializing JSON is very fast. The registry isn't the place to do it, and I'm surprised anyone still bothers with it in 2021. All my software relies on config files, and this is the pattern Microsoft themselves have promoted for years with .NET
LorenPechtel 5y ago
The registry is a good idea for anything *other* programs need to know. Putting the information for any given program into the registry is a bad idea and I think far more an anti-piracy measure than good programming.
superdisk 5y ago
This is really emblematic of how I think Windows (and Microsoft) lost its way. Maybe the registry wasn't ultimately the best implementation, but I don't dislike the idea behind it-- a centralized repository of information and configuration for programs. Flawed as it may be, it was an attempt at something more sophisticated than storing things in files. I feel like this is the case for a lot of legacy MS technologies-- they attempted to really innovate, and maybe they fell short but at least they were trying. OLE, COM, .NET, JET engine, WinFS, Longhorn, all attempts at making an advancement in the OS space. Seems like recently though that they've just succumbed to the "Unix philosophy" of doing everything in a simple yet primitive/crude way. It greatly disappoints me that now NOBODY is trying to make an operating system for the future, not based on the local maximum of Unix, except maybe Google and Fuchsia. Shoving JSON into the registry is like a caveman using a hoverboard as a club or something. Sad!
- kasabali 5y ago
  Stuffing json inside a registry key is as close to "unix philosophy" as changing your bikes tires is to knitting.
  - superdisk 5y ago
    I'm using "Unix philosophy" in this sense to mean using crude, well understood methods as opposed to a more sophisticated but complex system. I think that's the real Unix philosophy anyway, not just piping text or whatever.
  - phendrenad2 5y ago
    The Unix philosophy (as it is in 2021) is very anti-registry. Everything should be a config file. Full of JSON, preferably.

rdiddly 5y ago

I was, not quite saddened, but surprised, to see JSON in the registry recently. I forget where it was though or what I was doing.

yabones 5y ago
I've seen XML hex encoded before. That was from a Toshiba printer driver on win 7. This seems like the logical next step...

babypuncher 5y ago

I prefer data be serialized into something human readable wherever there is any chance a person might want to edit it manually. Storage is dirt cheap and de-serializing JSON is very fast. The registry isn't the place to do it, and I'm surprised anyone still bothers with it in 2021. All my software relies on config files, and this is the pattern Microsoft themselves have promoted for years with .NET

LorenPechtel 5y ago

The registry is a good idea for anything *other* programs need to know. Putting the information for any given program into the registry is a bad idea and I think far more an anti-piracy measure than good programming.

superdisk 5y ago

This is really emblematic of how I think Windows (and Microsoft) lost its way. Maybe the registry wasn't ultimately the best implementation, but I don't dislike the idea behind it-- a centralized repository of information and configuration for programs. Flawed as it may be, it was an attempt at something more sophisticated than storing things in files. I feel like this is the case for a lot of legacy MS technologies-- they attempted to really innovate, and maybe they fell short but at least they were trying. OLE, COM, .NET, JET engine, WinFS, Longhorn, all attempts at making an advancement in the OS space. Seems like recently though that they've just succumbed to the "Unix philosophy" of doing everything in a simple yet primitive/crude way. It greatly disappoints me that now NOBODY is trying to make an operating system for the future, not based on the local maximum of Unix, except maybe Google and Fuchsia. Shoving JSON into the registry is like a caveman using a hoverboard as a club or something. Sad!

kasabali 5y ago
Stuffing json inside a registry key is as close to "unix philosophy" as changing your bikes tires is to knitting.
- superdisk 5y ago
  I'm using "Unix philosophy" in this sense to mean using crude, well understood methods as opposed to a more sophisticated but complex system. I think that's the real Unix philosophy anyway, not just piping text or whatever.
- phendrenad2 5y ago
  The Unix philosophy (as it is in 2021) is very anti-registry. Everything should be a config file. Full of JSON, preferably.