4 ms·

> strictly parsing (parse, don't validate) That's called validating? Zod is a validation library. But yeah, people really need to start strictly parsing/valid

> strictly parsing (parse, don't validate) That's called validating? Zod is a validation library. But yeah, people really need to start strictly parsing/validating their data. One time I had an interview and I was told yOu DoN'T tRuSt YoUr BaCkeNd?!?!?!?

dhussoe 11mo ago
"parse don't validate" is from: https://lexi-lambda.github.io/blog/2019/11/05/parse-don-t-validate/ https://lexi-lambda.github.io/blog/2019/11/05/parse-don-t-va... looking at zod (assuming https://zod.dev https://zod.dev) it is a parsing library by that definition — which isn't, like, an official definition or anything, one person on the internet came up with it, but I think it is good at getting the principle across under these definitions a "parser" takes some input and returns either some valid output (generally a more specific type, like String -> URL) or an error, whereas a "validator" just takes that input and returns a boolean or throws an error or whatever makes sense in the language. eta: probably part of the distinction here is that since zod is a JS library the actual implementation can be a "validator" and then the original parsed JSON input can just be returned with a different type. "parse don't validate" is (IMO) more popular in languages like Rust where you would already need to parse the JSON to a language-native structure from the original bytes, or to some "JSON" type like https://docs.rs/serde_json/latest/serde_json/enum.Value.html https://docs.rs/serde_json/latest/serde_json/enum.Value.html that are generally awkward for application code (nudging you onto the happy parsing path).
- koakuma-chan 11mo ago
  I like your message and I think that you are right on everything.
  - dhussoe 11mo ago
    yeah I have repeatedly had things like "yOu DoN'T tRuSt YoUr BaCkeNd?!?!?!?" come up and am extremely tired of it when it's 2025 and we have libraries that solve this problem automatically and in a way that is usually more ergonomic anyways... I don't do JS/TS so I guess just casting the result of JSON.parse is sort of more convenient there, but come on...
    - koakuma-chan 11mo ago
      Yes, I know right? You are so lucky to not do JS/TS—those people are incredible. Finally, someone who understands me.

dhussoe 11mo ago

"parse don't validate" is from: https://lexi-lambda.github.io/blog/2019/11/05/parse-don-t-validate/ https://lexi-lambda.github.io/blog/2019/11/05/parse-don-t-va... looking at zod (assuming https://zod.dev https://zod.dev) it is a parsing library by that definition — which isn't, like, an official definition or anything, one person on the internet came up with it, but I think it is good at getting the principle across under these definitions a "parser" takes some input and returns either some valid output (generally a more specific type, like String -> URL) or an error, whereas a "validator" just takes that input and returns a boolean or throws an error or whatever makes sense in the language. eta: probably part of the distinction here is that since zod is a JS library the actual implementation can be a "validator" and then the original parsed JSON input can just be returned with a different type. "parse don't validate" is (IMO) more popular in languages like Rust where you would already need to parse the JSON to a language-native structure from the original bytes, or to some "JSON" type like https://docs.rs/serde_json/latest/serde_json/enum.Value.html https://docs.rs/serde_json/latest/serde_json/enum.Value.html that are generally awkward for application code (nudging you onto the happy parsing path).

koakuma-chan 11mo ago
I like your message and I think that you are right on everything.
- dhussoe 11mo ago
  yeah I have repeatedly had things like "yOu DoN'T tRuSt YoUr BaCkeNd?!?!?!?" come up and am extremely tired of it when it's 2025 and we have libraries that solve this problem automatically and in a way that is usually more ergonomic anyways... I don't do JS/TS so I guess just casting the result of JSON.parse is sort of more convenient there, but come on...
  - koakuma-chan 11mo ago
    Yes, I know right? You are so lucky to not do JS/TS—those people are incredible. Finally, someone who understands me.