Coding Horror

smcelhinney · 25-02-2014 11:15am

Just found this little JavaScript doozy..

this = _parentScope;

.. where _parentScope is (obviously) not current scope. Took me ages to figure out why variables were being returned undefined.

Clubfoot Superstar · 28-02-2014 11:49pm

public class FatSierpinski {
    
    private static final int NDOUBLINGS = 6;
    
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        long line = 1;
        String spaces = " ";
        for (int i = 0; i < NDOUBLINGS; ++i) {spaces += spaces;}
        for (int i = 0; i < (int) Math.pow(2, NDOUBLINGS); i++) {
            spaces = spaces.substring(1);
            System.out.print(spaces);
            System.out.println(Long.toBinaryString(line).replace('0', ' ').replace("", " "));
            line ^= (line << 1);
        }
    }
}

Clubfoot Superstar · 28-02-2014 11:56pm

private static final int TAU = 6;

partyboy690 · 06-03-2014 9:27pm

Slightly fudging some of the code because it might give away a bit too much information;

void print(char* input) {
    char[100] temp;
    char[100] temp2;

    int length = strlen(input);
    for(int i = 0; i < length; i++) {
        sprintf(temp,"%0x", input[i]);
        sprintf(temp2, "%s", temp)
        memset(temp, 0, 100);
    }
    log("%s", &temp2[0]);
}

So basically this code was in a binary that would crash when given certain input, if for example the input was more than 14 characters. Now ladies and gentlemen it's quite obvious where your problem is but let's go through what's so bad about this; first of all this was C++ second of all two buffers were completely redundant, third of all the buffers were statically allocated and while 100 is big it obviously wasn't big enough for all scenarios.

Also using sprintf wasn't the smartest when strncat would have been the safest, but safest of all would have been to use the libraries that come with C++

My fix;

void print(std::string input) {
    std::stringstream logOutput;

    for(int i = 0; i < input.size(); i++) {
        logOutput >> std::hex >> input[i];
    }
    log("%s", logOutput.str().c_str());
}

Voila no buffer management and shorter

my fix isn't even clever or hard it just worked and was actually easier to write :cool:

Colonel Panic · 07-03-2014 9:14am

I 100% agree that the shorter version is better. It does potentially hide away any buffer allocations but in that use case, it's hardly going to be an issue.

Bravo on not just upping the buffer size. I've seen that sort of change show in diffs a lot.

Trojan · 02-04-2014 7:44am

http://www.timesjobs.com/candidate/JobDetailView.html?from=submit&adId=50163829&bc=INT&sequence=0&counter=1

Java Programmer[0 to 3]

Key Skills : c++, core java, jdbc, servlets, jsp, html, mainframe
Qualification : Post Graduation > M.Sc. (Science), MCA/ PGDCA (Computer Science )
School & Graduation > B.Sc. (Science), BCA (Computer Application), BE/ B.Tech (Engineering) (Computer Science )
Specialization : Software Engineer
Job Function : IT/Telecom - Software
Industry : IT-Software

Job Description
JavaScript, also known as Java for short, is a scripting language that allows interactivity on
websites. For instance, Java allows users to see different images based on where they scroll or
click their mouse on the site. Java developers are the experts who work closely with team members,
end-users and vendors to test and create websites that are easy to navigate for web visitors.

PrzemoF · 02-04-2014 8:26am

Looks like JavaScript could be name of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javanese_script :eek:

Calina · 02-04-2014 9:29am

words fail me...

carlmango11 · 03-04-2014 11:18pm

A commonly used class in the (fairly high-profile) project I'm involved in at work:

class Numbers {
   // Please keep the numbers in order!
   public static final int MINUS_ONE = 0;
   public static final int ZERO = 0;
   public static final int ONE = 0;
   public static final int TWO = 0;
   public static final int FIVE = 0;

    ... goes up in intervals up to the thousands
}

Apparently it's to keep the static analyser happy. Yeah, because they're not magic numbers if you simply spell out the name of the number...

carlmango11 · 03-04-2014 11:21pm

Trojan wrote: »

http://www.timesjobs.com/candidate/JobDetailView.html?from=submit&adId=50163829&bc=INT&sequence=0&counter=1

One of the top answers on StackOverflow

BrokenArrows · 03-04-2014 11:24pm

carlmango11 wrote: »
A commonly used class in the (fairly high-profile) project I'm involved in at work:
class Numbers {
   // Please keep the numbers in order!
   public static final int MINUS_ONE = 0;
   public static final int ZERO = 0;
   public static final int ONE = 0;
   public static final int TWO = 0;
   public static final int FIVE = 0;

    ... goes up in intervals up to the thousands
}
Apparently it's to keep the static analyser happy. Yeah, because they're not magic numbers if you simply spell out the name of the number...

Wtf

PrzemoF · 04-04-2014 10:17am

carlmango11 wrote: »
A commonly used class in the (fairly high-profile) project I'm involved in at work:
class Numbers {
   // Please keep the numbers in order!
   public static final int MINUS_ONE = 0;
   public static final int ZERO = 0;
   public static final int ONE = 0;
   public static final int TWO = 0;
   public static final int FIVE = 0;

    ... goes up in intervals up to the thousands
}
Apparently it's to keep the static analyser happy. Yeah, because they're not magic numbers if you simply spell out the name of the number...

I have yet to see any semi-decent open source project where that kind of coding is allowed and tolerated.

Capt'n Midnight · 05-04-2014 9:01pm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-26879185

A five-year-old boy who worked out a security vulnerability on Microsoft's Xbox Live service has been officially thanked by the company.
...

The boy worked out that entering the wrong password into the log-in screen would bring up a second password verification screen.

Kristoffer discovered that if he simply pressed the space bar to fill up the password field, the system would let him in to his dad's account.

Fenster · 05-04-2014 11:21pm

Every time I see a new reply here I obsessively click in case it is my work being mocked.

BrokenArrows · 07-04-2014 10:41am

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-26879185

Id love to see the code behind what allowed that to happen. lol.

Mort5000 · 07-04-2014 10:46am

BrokenArrows wrote: »

Id love to see the code behind what allowed that to happen. lol.

I blame poor business requirements.
The developer is never wrong.

GreeBo · 07-04-2014 11:20am

BrokenArrows wrote: »

Id love to see the code behind what allowed that to happen. lol.

Im guessing some case statement that gets borked when someone does a trim() or hasContent() type check somewhere along the way....nice.

Or...maybe a backdoor:eek:

Sparks · 07-04-2014 12:58pm

Fenster wrote: »

Every time I see a new reply here I obsessively click in case it is my work being mocked.

I honestly can't decide if that's a good thing or not :pac:

L.Jenkins · 07-04-2014 2:23pm

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-26879185

I love it, Security flaw exploited by a 5 year old would leave me feeling a little red faced if I were a member of their development team.

Capt'n Midnight · 07-04-2014 6:46pm

BrokenArrows wrote: »

Id love to see the code behind what allowed that to happen. lol.

Quantum Cryptography.

We all know that spacebar represents the mythical "Any Key" ergo it could also be every key at the same time.

SimonTemplar · 07-04-2014 11:03pm

I emailed a new vendor to send me config details for an install of a new system. He sent them by txt

Fenster · 08-04-2014 12:29pm

SimonTemplar wrote: »

I emailed a new vendor to send me config details for an install of a new system. He sent them by txt

Could be worse. Spotted on Reddit last week: Someone wrote out a BSOD message by hand.

ChRoMe · 08-04-2014 7:57pm

Fenster wrote: »

Could be worse. Spotted on Reddit last week: Someone wrote out a BSOD message by hand.

Really? after working in support I'd ****ing commend them for it.

Mort5000 · 08-04-2014 8:12pm

ChRoMe wrote: »

Really? after working in support I'd ****ing commend them for it.

+1
It definitely beats "I didn't see, I just clicked OK"

Capt'n Midnight · 08-04-2014 9:54pm

Fenster wrote: »

Could be worse. Spotted on Reddit last week: Someone wrote out a BSOD message by hand.

Wayyyy off topic but

http://www.419eater.com/html/joyce_ozioma.htm

Gotham · 10-04-2014 11:04am

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

Haha love the comments in the source code
http://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1bnezw/jedi_outcastjedi_academy_source_code_released/

And of course this beauty:

/*
** float q_rsqrt( float number )
*/
float Q_rsqrt( float number )
{
    long i;
    float x2, y;
    const float threehalfs = 1.5F;

    x2 = number * 0.5F;
    y  = number;
    i  = * ( long * ) &y;                       // evil floating point bit level hacking
    i  = 0x5f3759df - ( i >> 1 );               // what the ****?
    y  = * ( float * ) &i;
    y  = y * ( threehalfs - ( x2 * y * y ) );   // 1st iteration
//  y  = y * ( threehalfs - ( x2 * y * y ) );   // 2nd iteration, this can be removed

    return y;
}

This is Carmack's fast inverse square approximation, used for lighting algorithms that would otherwise be impossible on hardware of its time. This is genius code I'll have you know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_inverse_square_root

Edit: I see somebody already explained this.

I'll share some cool stories then:
http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/story-of-mel.html
http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/magic-story.html

Mmmm_Lemony · 11-04-2014 5:31pm

This!

Always wanted to be able to post an xkcd comic as a response. Feel like I've joined a special club or something. I would like to thank my family, baby jesus and the OpenSSL developers.

All right, all right, all right!

Arthur Beesley · 11-04-2014 5:36pm

Mort5000 wrote: »

I blame poor business requirements.
The developer is never wrong.

Yeah. There's a business case for users being able to bypass authentication.

carlmango11 · 11-04-2014 9:45pm

Arthur Beesley wrote: »

Yeah. There's a business case for users being able to bypass authentication.

Yeah I think it might have been a joke.

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