How Tumblr uses \0 in the output of meta tags (opens in new tab)

(dudewheresmybackslash0.tumblr.com)

88 pointsMithorium12y ago18 comments

18 comments

13 comments · 3 top-level

ioquatix12y ago· 10 in thread

I am constantly surprised by the level of quality programming @ large companies. Especially those who only seem to hire "The Best".

geofft12y ago

That should be a lesson in whether "the best" consider it important to every last thing 100% right, or to move quickly and maybe make a small number of mistakes along the way.

http://www.jwz.org/doc/worse-is-better.html

"It is slightly better to be simple than correct."

krapp12y ago

Well, they've certainly got "simply not correct" nailed.

ioquatix12y ago

I would have said being correct AND simple would be ideal. I think in the case of the bug mentioned above, we have a case of neither attribute.

awayand12y ago

a different "view" would be the 80/20 rule: it takes 80% effort to make the last 20% right.

staunch12y ago

I'm constantly surprised that people confuse code quality and value.

mje__12y ago

Without doubt, this is the most important lesson I've learned in my professional career.

raverbashing12y ago

Also, they may be "the best" (because they have a PhD, or something), but have no idea of what makes the best code

Yes, the code may suck, but the business is growing. What about those companies that prioritise code quality instead of growth? You probably never heard of them

saidajigumi12y ago

> What about those companies that prioritise code quality instead of growth? You probably never heard of them

Please stop spreading that nonsense. Speaking from inside knowledge, some of them have strong, sustainable business growth and very successful recent IPOs. Some companies survive despite crap code. This does not make it the only way to work, or even the best way.

mkr-hn12y ago

It would be nice if they at least focused on quality when it comes to security. I lost count of how many fast-growing companies shared their database with the world.

1 more reply

Aldo_MX12y ago

Tight schedules are usually the reason behind these mistakes...

martin_12y ago

And it's only worth a billion bucks?!

joe515012y ago

Tumblr has weird bugs that seem to involve character escaping. Searching for tags that have slashes in them seem to end up parsed as URL segments and will return 404s, for instance.

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