Fabulous Adventures In Coding
Eric Lippert's Erstwhile Blog
JScript, DNA, and Mad Cow Disease
The WebGraphics blog recently had a Javascript quine contest that just ended. I'm totally bummed...
Author: Eric Lippert Date: 09/15/2004
The Postmodern Gumballs
It's hard to believe it but it's true: I've been at this for an entire year. How the time has flown....
Author: Eric Lippert Date: 09/13/2004
Thirty Years of Backwards Compatibility
In response to my earlier series on error handling in VBScript, Ian Griffiths blogged that Reuben...
Author: Eric Lippert Date: 09/09/2004
Hostile Exception Filter vs Benign Assert: Who will win?
I got a number of good responses to last week's challenge, including some that pointed out potential...
Author: Eric Lippert Date: 09/08/2004
"Finally" Does Not Mean "Immediately"
All that talk a while back about error handling in VBScript got me thinking about some error...
Author: Eric Lippert Date: 09/01/2004
Error Handling in VBScript, Part Three
Apparently I've sparked a discussion amongst the super-geniuses of LtU on various innovative...
Author: Eric Lippert Date: 08/25/2004
Error Handling In VBScript, Part Two
The way VBScript implements the error semantics I mentioned last time is sort of interesting. Today...
Author: Eric Lippert Date: 08/23/2004
Error Handling in VBScript, Part One
OK, enough about the Peloponnesian war -- a number of readers have asked me questions about error...
Author: Eric Lippert Date: 08/19/2004
The Attribute Of Manliness
This is a technical, not a political, current-events, linguistic or academic blog. (You know of...
Author: Eric Lippert Date: 08/18/2004
Solution to Spot the Defect Part Two
There were lots of good responses to my challenge of yesterday. There are two major defects in this...
Author: Eric Lippert Date: 08/17/2004
Spot the Defect, Part Two
Some fun for a Monday -- for some definition of fun, I suppose. Here's a recent posting to...
Author: Eric Lippert Date: 08/16/2004
Math is Everywhere
A number of coincidences led to this post -- first, I got an email from one of the Mikes, who...
Author: Eric Lippert Date: 08/11/2004
JScript .NET Type Coercion Semantics, Part Four: Coercion at last
Before I get going, a couple notable milestones. First, this is post number 200! Who would have...
Author: Eric Lippert Date: 08/10/2004
JScript .NET Type Coercion Semantics, Part Three: Assignability
Before I begin today's technical topic, a quick link to what promises to be a terrifying, I mean,...
Author: Eric Lippert Date: 08/06/2004
JScript .NET Type Coercion Semantics, Part Two: Promotability
Last time I gave some vague, high-level definitions of the type system concepts promotable,...
Author: Eric Lippert Date: 08/04/2004
JScript .NET Type Coercion Semantics
Stan Lippman has started an interesting series of blog entries on how Managed C++ determines which...
Author: Eric Lippert Date: 08/02/2004
Typing Hard Can Trip You Up
Speaking of weird JScript gotchas, here's a weird VBScript gotcha that I alluded to earlier. foo =...
Author: Eric Lippert Date: 07/30/2004
Pop Quiz
Every non-trivial language has "gotchas". Here's one. Consider the following JScript, which creates...
Author: Eric Lippert Date: 07/29/2004
VSTO Web Cast On Tuesday
I've just now learned that my colleagues Andrew Jewsbury and Mohit Gupta will be talking about the...
Author: Eric Lippert Date: 07/26/2004
Aargh! Part Eight, plus Boring Metablogging
Q: What's a pirate's second favourite mode of transportation? A: A caaaaargh! Preferably a...
Author: Eric Lippert Date: 07/23/2004
Recursion and Dynamic Programming
Back in May we were discussing the merits and drawbacks of recursive programming techniques -- that...
Author: Eric Lippert Date: 07/21/2004
Why no ++?
Oddly enough, my posting on how to handle a mad crush has become the third most popular article I've...
Author: Eric Lippert Date: 07/19/2004
Not Logical Is VBScript
Quick, what's the difference between If Blah = True Then Print "True!" Else Print "False!" and If...
Author: Eric Lippert Date: 07/15/2004
Eric's Complete Guide To Type Signatures Of Scriptable Object Models
Moving away from the problems of junior high school… Here's a question I've gotten many times...
Author: Eric Lippert Date: 07/14/2004
What I Did On My Summer Vacation
I'm back, and I've almost made it through the 525 not-automatically-sorted email messages, caught up...
Author: Eric Lippert Date: 07/12/2004
Going Dark
Hey all, at the end of this week I'm heading off on vacation for two weeks, I've got a metric...
Author: Eric Lippert Date: 06/21/2004
Some Quick Notes On Variable Scoping
Here's a question I got a while back: In a VBS or ASP file, the following code doesn't work, which I...
Author: Eric Lippert Date: 06/18/2004
Reading Code Is Hard, Part Two
I was thinking about this a bit more and talking with Larry Osterman yesterday, and I came up with...
Author: Eric Lippert Date: 06/15/2004
Reading Code Is Hard
Escalation Engineer JeremyK asks in his blog this morning: how do you teach people this...
Author: Eric Lippert Date: 06/14/2004
A JScript .NET Design Donnybrook, Part Two
I am totally amused that the comments on yesterday's entry are nigh-isomorphic to the argument that...
Author: Eric Lippert Date: 06/08/2004
A JScript .NET Design Donnybrook
When you're designing a new programming language, the "main line" cases are easy. It's the "corner"...
Author: Eric Lippert Date: 06/07/2004
Aargh! Part Seven
Q: How do pirates keep their socks from falling down? A: Thumbtacks. I am insanely busy with bug...
Author: Eric Lippert Date: 06/04/2004
Rarefied Heights Part Two, Plus Some Random Short Takes
A few short takes today before I get into the actual subject of today's entry....
Author: Eric Lippert Date: 06/02/2004
What's the Difference between WScript.CreateObject, Server.CreateObject and CreateObject?
A reader asked me last week I have always used Server.CreateObject in ASP scripts and...
Author: Eric Lippert Date: 06/01/2004
JScript .NET Classes Are Serializable -- Surprise!
You learn something new every day in this job. Or, more accurately, some days you learn things again...
Author: Eric Lippert Date: 05/26/2004
You Can't Convert Data Structures To Strings In VBScript Without Breaking A Few Eggs
Here's a question I get every now and then: I've written a VBScript program which calls a method on...
Author: Eric Lippert Date: 05/25/2004
Revisionist History
Based on the excellent user feedback, I have significantly revised my article on the history of the...
Author: Eric Lippert Date: 05/21/2004
Original: When Are You Required To Set Objects To Nothing?
NOTE: I have significantly revised this article. What you are reading now is the archive of the...
Author: Eric Lippert Date: 05/21/2004
Results Of The Fibonacci Challenge Are In
Another bunch of good replies to my challenge of yesterday. And again, a bunch of answers that I...
Author: Eric Lippert Date: 05/20/2004
Dude, Where's My Asymptotic Order Analysis?
"There is something missing from this analysis. Saying that this is an O(n) algorithm perhaps isn't...
Author: Eric Lippert Date: 05/14/2004
The Stygian Depths Of Hacked-Together Scripts
Last time on FABULOUS ADVENTURES: Eric Lippert: The second term is asymptotically insignificant...
Author: Eric Lippert Date: 05/13/2004