4 ms·

Pet peeve: Timespan configs that don't include the unit in the variable name. I'm so sick of commands with --timeout params where I'm left guessing if it's sec

by Pxtl 2y ago

Pet peeve: Timespan configs that don't include the unit in the variable name. I'm so sick of commands with --timeout params where I'm left guessing if it's seconds or millis or what.

skykooler 2y ago
I spent a while debugging a library with a chunk_time_ms parameter where it turned out "ms" stood for "microseconds".
- grayhatter 2y ago
  I have a very hard time relating to everyone else complaining about ~~lack of units~~ being unable to read/remember API docs. But using `chunk_time_ms` where ms is MICROseconds?! That's unforgivable, and I hope for all our sakes, you don't have to use that lib anymore! :D
  - Pxtl 2y ago
    The sheer number of APIs of modern coding is exhausting, I can't imagine either trying to keep all the stuff I'm using in my head or having to go back to the docs every time instead of being able to just read the code.
    - grayhatter 2y ago
      do you primarily write rust, or js?
echoangle 2y ago
Alternatively, you can also accept the value with a unit and return an error when a plain number is entered (so --timeout 5s or --timeout 5h is valid but --timeout 5 returns an error).
hinkley 2y ago
Be it seconds or milliseconds, eventually your program evolves to need tenths or less of that unit and you can either support decimal points, create a new field and deprecate the old one, or do a breaking change that makes the poor SOB that needs to validate a breaking change-bearing upgrade in production before turning it on get a migraine if they have to toggle back and forth more than a couple times. Code isn’t always arranged so that a config change and a build/runtime change can be tucked into a single commit that can be applied or rolled back atomically. All because someone thought surely nobody would ever want something to happen on a quarter of a second delay/interval, or a 250 microsecond one.
cratermoon 2y ago
I'll bounce in with another iteration of my argument for avoiding language primitive types and always using domain-appropriate value types. A Duration is not a number type, neither float or integer. It may be implemented using whatever primitive the language provides, but for timeouts and sleep, what is 1 Duration? The software always encodes some definition of 1 unit in the time domain, make it clear to the user or programmer.

by Pxtl 2y ago

Pet peeve: Timespan configs that don't include the unit in the variable name. I'm so sick of commands with --timeout params where I'm left guessing if it's seconds or millis or what.

skykooler 2y ago

I spent a while debugging a library with a chunk_time_ms parameter where it turned out "ms" stood for "microseconds".

grayhatter 2y ago
I have a very hard time relating to everyone else complaining about ~~lack of units~~ being unable to read/remember API docs. But using `chunk_time_ms` where ms is MICROseconds?! That's unforgivable, and I hope for all our sakes, you don't have to use that lib anymore! :D
- Pxtl 2y ago
  The sheer number of APIs of modern coding is exhausting, I can't imagine either trying to keep all the stuff I'm using in my head or having to go back to the docs every time instead of being able to just read the code.
  - grayhatter 2y ago
    do you primarily write rust, or js?

echoangle 2y ago

Alternatively, you can also accept the value with a unit and return an error when a plain number is entered (so --timeout 5s or --timeout 5h is valid but --timeout 5 returns an error).

hinkley 2y ago

Be it seconds or milliseconds, eventually your program evolves to need tenths or less of that unit and you can either support decimal points, create a new field and deprecate the old one, or do a breaking change that makes the poor SOB that needs to validate a breaking change-bearing upgrade in production before turning it on get a migraine if they have to toggle back and forth more than a couple times. Code isn’t always arranged so that a config change and a build/runtime change can be tucked into a single commit that can be applied or rolled back atomically. All because someone thought surely nobody would ever want something to happen on a quarter of a second delay/interval, or a 250 microsecond one.

cratermoon 2y ago

I'll bounce in with another iteration of my argument for avoiding language primitive types and always using domain-appropriate value types. A Duration is not a number type, neither float or integer. It may be implemented using whatever primitive the language provides, but for timeouts and sleep, what is 1 Duration? The software always encodes some definition of 1 unit in the time domain, make it clear to the user or programmer.