Magic pronouns considered harmful
-
Seriously? Does he really think it's more clear to say "SMOD #{FIRST_SMOD}" than simply "SMOD #1"?
It just occurred to me to think a bit about this, and yes, he does, and he is right.Why? Because the named-constant explains why it is what it is, whereas "1" is just a number, and might be there because it is the number of socks you have that don't have holes, and you couldn't be bothered to think of something better. Or maybe you wanted to celebrate a big(1) purchase by including a reference to it in the code. Perhaps you bought an XBOne, and put a 1 (One) in there to reference it.(2)
(1) "big" here doesn't necessarily mean it is big in some absolute sense. On the scale of things, the price of an XBOne is pretty small, but...
(2) Don't dismiss this as too stupid for words, and therefore too stupid to ever happen. It is too stupid for words, but it does happen. I once worked with a codebase that was originally out-sourced to a (local) custom software house, and had not too long before been in-sourced back from them. At some point before this transfer, the external developer bought a new car, and celebrated this fact by naming a critical central variable in the multi-threading scheduler after his new
golf_gti. The bigger
here is that neither I nor my fellow in-house developer really felt up to the admittedly minor risks associated with giving the variable a proper name, so it remained in the code.
-
@Buddy said:
But for real people, racism against white people just isn't something yore gonna experience
The usual argument for this (actually, usually the stronger form of "black people can't be racist) is that racism comes from a position of power, and as the white man is the one with the power, black/minority people are never in the position where they can exert racism. To which I raise two counterpoints:
- If a black guy is prejudiced against any particular race (even other black people) that's racist in my book.
- If I have a black boss is he still unable to be racist against me?
I see at as really an argument that, e.g., white against black racism is a bigger problem / has worse consequences / etc than black vs white racism. And I think very few people would disagree with that.
Some people go so far as to say that the way to stop racial discrimination is to stop discriminating based on race, but that's obviously absurd.
-
Why? Because the named-constant explains why it is what it is, whereas "1" is just a number, and might be there because it is the number of socks you have that don't have holes, and you couldn't be bothered to think of something better.
Usually, yes, this makes sense. But note that in this particular case, my colleague objected to "1" and wanted to replace it with "first". If someone didn't know why I'm using 1 here, he would be as much clueless about the "first".Forgot to mention that this 1 occurs in a named argument assignment - it literally says "smod_number := 1". And he wanted me to replace it with "smod_number := FIRST_SMOD_NUMBER". And since "first SMOD" is by definition the one bearing number 1...
-
I see at as really an argument that, e.g., white against black racism is a bigger problem / has worse consequences / etc than black vs white racism. And I think very few people would disagree with that.
I have slight objections to that... Wait a second.Some people go so far as to say that the way to stop racial discrimination is to stop discriminating based on race, but that's obviously absurd.
...Oooh. ICWATUDIDTHAR.
-
Sure...she could still have been a professor of African-American studies and been in the NAACP.
I'm sure the NAACP would've had no problem like that, just like the CBC was happy to let the white guy who represented a majority-black district join a few years back.
[1] Their name! Not mine.
-
instead of being socially obligated to buy an overpriced lump of carbon mounted on some precious metal to show my affection to someone of the opposite sex, perhaps she will instead buy me a reasonably-optioned Corvette to show her affection.
Good luck with that!
-
Oh man we should talk about Wicker Man. That movie was awesome.
-
Not bees!
Not the face!
, the legs? I was already going to asphyxiate before I burned alive. Oh wait, Hollywood says I live to burn.You know, fuck this.
shoots self in head
-
The article isn't all that great, but I've heard this before, so here it is.
Women are realizing that now they are the breadwinners, they don't appreciate their househusbands all that much, and they don't like the stress of having to provide.
-
KILLING ME WON'T BRING BACK YOUR GODDAMN HONEY!
Possibly the best line-read of all time.
-
I'm waiting for the sequel, where they bury him and then die out because it didn't bring back the honey.
Until then, I like to imagine their response of living long enough to find themselves in a "The Walking Dead" crossover.
Oh yes, the gods are still angry.
-
I hope when Nicholas Cage gets his Lifetime Achievement Award, literally every clip they show is from Wicker Man.
Oh, and maybe that one scene from Ghost Rider where he's looking in the mirror and they CGI-ed abs on his tubby stomach.
-
If you're pulling from Wicker Man, you can't pass up the Ghost Rider scene where he goes Looney Tunes bonkers on the bike.
-
I'm not denying the existence of black racial supremacists; what I'm saying is that in practice your hypothetical boss is far more likely to just be discriminating against you than full pointy-headed racist. What I'm also saying is that I'd be slightly more likely to take peoples opinions on this stuff seriously if they could get their definitions straight.
-
I'm also saying is that I'd be slightly more likely to take peoples opinions on this stuff seriously if they could
get their definitions straightuse the persuasive definitions I'm accustomed to.FTFM
-
What I'm also saying is that I'd be slightly more likely to take peoples opinions on this stuff seriously if they could get their definitions straight.
Yes, we totally agree on this.
what I'm saying is
That's what you're saying now. It's not what you were saying before.
-
If you wait for a time when the sun shines while it's still raining, you can find a whole new rainbow that's been created for free. Go burn that.
-
@Jaloopa said:
@Buddy said:
But for real people, racism against white people just isn't something yore gonna experience
The usual argument for this (actually, usually the stronger form of "black people can't be racist) is that racism comes from a position of power, and as the white man is the one with the power, black/minority people are never in the position where they can exert racism. To which I raise two counterpoints:
- If a black guy is prejudiced against any particular race (even other black people) that's racist in my book.
- If I have a black boss is he still unable to be racist against me?
I see at as really an argument that, e.g., white against black racism is a bigger problem / has worse consequences / etc than black vs white racism. And I think very few people would disagree with that.
Orders of magnitude more prevalent. (I can't tell if I'm agreeing or disagreeing with you here).Some people go so far as to say that the way to stop racial discrimination is to stop discriminating based on race, but that's obviously absurd.
Sure, and the way to end world hunger is to make sure everyone has enough food.
-
Sure, and the way to end world hunger is to make sure everyone has enough food.
I'm doing my part!
-
Did you read @boomzilla's thing earlier about the ignorant kids who just want to call everything an -ism? Can you not see how every accusation of racism in this thread has been a version of that? As a person who has known real actual racists, people playing up a bit of mundane, everyday prejudice like it's the worst thing that's ever happened kind of gets on my nerves.
-
I think it's more about living a life where you don't discriminate and then getting told that it doesn't matter and you're a horrible person for no real reason. And then when you accurate describe what's going on, that apparently just proves them right.
I've known real racists, too. And not just white people. I mean...not Apartheid level racists, I'll freely admit.
-
That doesn't bother frost cat though, he just does his own thing and drinks peoples tears when they get upset.
-
I don't know why you've got this idea that I'm prejudiced against whatever kind of OtherKin you think you are (I'm guessing goth half-elf half-orc) but you should get over yourself.
-
I didn't say you're racist, just that you're inconsistent, in that you dismiss anybody else's claims of prejudice out of hand, yet as soon as it turns to your own race and gender suddenly you can see how prejudiced everybody is.
White men suffer the least from discrimination out of any combination of race and gender, and I don't have any ulterior motive for saying that, except that a) I believe it to be true and b) I feel as if there are people here who disagree with me about it.
-
you dismiss anybody else's claims of prejudice out of hand
[citation needed]
s soon as it turns to your own race and gender suddenly you can see how prejudiced everybody is.
[citation needed]
-
[citation needed]
What is this an inquisition? Either you believe that white men are victims of more, or more serious, discrimination than anyone else or you don't. You tell me.
-
Let's cut to the chase: some people are assholes towards other people. They've got all sorts of reasons for doing this (colour of skin is definitely not the only one) but it happens. We want, in general, for people to be less asshole-ish towards others. Can't stop asshole-ishness entirely, but doesn't mean that we ought to let them get away with it. Can we do better? Probably. It's usually true that we can do better, whatever we're talking about.
Tackling racism is part of that overall theme, but the overall theme requires us to remember that we're aiming to limit the asshole-ishness, and that's not done by being assholes ourselves as well.
-
C'mon, just tell us if you stopped beating your wife yet or if you didn't.
-
Either you believe that white men are victims of more, or more serious, discrimination than anyone else or you don't. You tell me.
I'll tell you you're an idiot if you ever thought i think that.
-
She loves it, but that's not important right now.
-
Tackling racism is part of that overall theme, but the overall theme requires us to remember that we're aiming to limit the asshole-ishness, and that's not done by being assholes ourselves as well.
I try, you know, but it takes a lot of focus to not just say all of the awful shit that pops into my head all of the time. Sometimes I like to cut loose.C'mon, just tell us if you stopped beating your wife yet or if you didn't.
Can't stop, won't stop!
@Buddy said:
Either you believe that white men are victims of more, or more serious, discrimination than anyone else or you don't. You tell me.
I'll tell you you're an idiot if you ever thought i think that.
Fair enough. And hey, I'm sorry if I made you feel bad about yourself, sometimes I just get carried away.
-
@Groaner said:
instead of being socially obligated to buy an overpriced lump of carbon mounted on some precious metal to show my affection to someone of the opposite sex, perhaps she will instead buy me a reasonably-optioned Corvette to show her affection.
Good luck with that!
Omg the War On Marriage was coming from inside the conservatism...
-
-
Just covering up loose ends.
-
@antiquarian said:
@Groaner said:
instead of being socially obligated to buy an overpriced lump of carbon mounted on some precious metal to show my affection to someone of the opposite sex, perhaps she will instead buy me a reasonably-optioned Corvette to show her affection.
Good luck with that!
Omg the War On Marriage was coming from inside the conservatism...
Politics makes strange bedfellows.
