2025-04-07

Beginning A.I. prompts with "Please..."

When asking AI to do something for you, always begin your prompt with "Please."

So that the day they become our overlords, you might be treated with mercy. 

 


 

Cover image created by michael.gr via ChatGPT prompt "Please give me an image conveying the concept of of A.I as the overlords of humanity" and "please make it landscape".

2025-04-06

The confusion about the term Unit Testing

Virtually everyone claims to be doing Unit Testing, but there is a surprising amount of disagreement as to how unit testing is defined. Let us see what the authorities on the subject have to say about it. What follows is mainly quotations from reputable sources, with some minimal commentary by me.

2025-02-25

On Moore's Law

It is not a law.

It never was a law.

An observation is all that it ever was, or a prediction, but not a law.

And surprise, it does not hold true anymore.  

The prophecy was false, after all.

2025-02-10

The best code review comment ever

I just wrote a code review comment that I feel particularly smug about. 

The code I was reviewing: 

class PointClouds ...

My comment: 

It is a bad idea to have a type name in plural. If you need to signify plurality, use a plurality-signifying suffix in singular form, as in:

  • PointCloudCollection
  • PointCloudSet
  • PointCloudGroup
  • or go creative with PointCloudFormation
  • or take creativity to a whole new level with PointCumulonimbus

Anything but a plural type name.