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Obviously nobody believes most of these falsehoods. Presumably the op means a lot of programmers create bugs that seem t imply programmers believe these falseho

Obviously nobody believes most of these falsehoods. Presumably the op means a lot of programmers create bugs that seem t imply programmers believe these falsehoods. But this one jumped out at me: "Any 24-hour period will always begin and end in the same day". It would be a lot more plausible if "always" were replaced with "never". Add 24 hours to a time, and it will (almost) always be the next day.

pjscott 4y ago
Agreed on all counts. The “falsehoods programmers believe about X” articles are cautionary lists of edge cases to think about, with an unfortunately aggressive naming scheme.
- ryandrake 4y ago
  They should really call these lists "Incorrect assumptions programmers make about X" or: "Test cases programmers should test their software against"
  - mgkimsal 4y ago
    Or “boundaries users have to stay within”. I’m aware of a lot of edge cases. When you start building with those in mind, it adds complications. Extra steps or more UI or whatever, to ensure the “right” thing happens, assumptions are obvious, etc. More often than not I’m pushed back in with “that doesn’t happen” or “don’t spend time on that”. “We’re never open past 9, don’t worry about a day” but then they acquire a system in a different time zone and … boom. Things are broken.
- fomine3 4y ago
  Falsehoods programmers Considered harmful
jerf 4y ago
There are the things you say you believe, and there are the things your actions show you believe. This extends well past simple matters of time in computers. Some of my favorite things lie in the fractal fringe categories between those, such as, "the things you didn't realize you believed (by your actions) until someone pointed them out to you" and "the things you didn't realize you should believe (in any sense) until someone pointed them out to you, at which point they seemed blindingly obvious and you can't believe you missed it".
- reidjs 4y ago
  Do you know if a list of those exists?

pjscott 4y ago

Agreed on all counts. The “falsehoods programmers believe about X” articles are cautionary lists of edge cases to think about, with an unfortunately aggressive naming scheme.

ryandrake 4y ago
They should really call these lists "Incorrect assumptions programmers make about X" or: "Test cases programmers should test their software against"
- mgkimsal 4y ago
  Or “boundaries users have to stay within”. I’m aware of a lot of edge cases. When you start building with those in mind, it adds complications. Extra steps or more UI or whatever, to ensure the “right” thing happens, assumptions are obvious, etc. More often than not I’m pushed back in with “that doesn’t happen” or “don’t spend time on that”. “We’re never open past 9, don’t worry about a day” but then they acquire a system in a different time zone and … boom. Things are broken.
fomine3 4y ago
Falsehoods programmers Considered harmful

jerf 4y ago

There are the things you say you believe, and there are the things your actions show you believe. This extends well past simple matters of time in computers. Some of my favorite things lie in the fractal fringe categories between those, such as, "the things you didn't realize you believed (by your actions) until someone pointed them out to you" and "the things you didn't realize you should believe (in any sense) until someone pointed them out to you, at which point they seemed blindingly obvious and you can't believe you missed it".

reidjs 4y ago
Do you know if a list of those exists?