@prahou @bagder @kentpitman

Stenberg's toot of our one hour live discussion is over here:
https://mastodon.social/@bagder/116550354613292539
whom we should #retoot too ! Along with this incredible crossstitch: https://mastodon.social/@bagder/112313816741180729

#curl #C #lisp #softwareEngineering #ai #networking

Alt...

Lispy gopher climate w/ screwlisp w/ Daniel Stenberg of curl banner. @bagder is drawn as a badger. The gopher and lisp alien are in the background. Listen to the interview. #unix_surrealism (analognowhere.com)

At the time, C was rapidly evolving into what we recognize today.

It started as B, an untyped and interpreted language that only had one kind of value, a word. This was a perfect fit for the PDP-7 that UNIX started on, with 18-bit words, but as they transitioned to the PDP-11, with 16-bit words and 8-bit addressing, this became a limitation.

Soon, types were added, to distinguish char, int, and pointers, and it became known as NB ("New B"). But, B wasn't particularly fast, as it was interpreted (well, threaded).

Once it was rewritten to be compiled, the language became known as C (perhaps initially as NC). For a short while, everything in C was an lvalue like B, giving the above snippet, but this was dropped a few months later, presumably for efficiency.

Some UNIX utilities had been written in B/C from the start, but efforts to rewrite the kernel itself in B/C had failed. Finally, once structs were added to C, it was powerful enough to support the kernel and it was rewritten in C over the summer of 1973, culminating in the release of UNIX V4.

#c #unix #retrocomputing #vintagecomputing

A cursed feature of C in 1972: Labels and functions were reassignable (i.e., lvalues)!

For example, this is a clever way to initialize once:

goto init;
init:
ouptr = oubuf;
init = init1;
init1:

which is compiled to:

jmp *4120
mov 4136,4144
mov 4122,4120

Note the indirect jump and assignment to that address. This apparently would have also worked with functions.

#c #unix #retrocomputing #vintagecomputing

SectorC: A C Compiler in 512 bytes, https://xorvoid.com/sectorc.html.

Yup.

#c #compiler

I'm looking for a modern introduction to #C. Something that is slow and steady but through. This is as much for systems programming on Linux as embedded work; I intend to do a bit of both. Any suggestions would be helpful. #programing #programinghelp #askfedi

Excellent article, by Blain Smith (@blainsmith), on the need for a broader education, especially for computer programmers:

https://blainsmith.com/essays/humanities-in-the-machine/

Thanks to Sacha Chua (@sacha) for including this in her most recent weekly Emacs news post.

Edit: proper links for people mentioned.

#Emacs #Unix #C

Canada's Bill C-22 Mandates Mass Metadata Surveillance of Canadians

https://www.parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/45-1/bill/C-22/first-reading

#HackerNews #Canada #Bill #C-22 #Metadata #Surveillance #Privacy #Rights

Oh, this is good...

From UNIX World, 1985: "It finds the subtle bugs in my C programs" - Claude B. Finn.

40 years later, people are using Claude to find bugs in programs. What's old is new again.

#Anthropic #LLM #Claude #ClaudeCode #AI #Security #Programming #UNIX #C

Alt...

Vintage magazine advertisement for SAFE C™, a software development tool for UNIX and VAX/VMS. A man in a dark sweater and jeans sits casually on a desk next to a computer terminal and keyboard. A testimonial quote reads "It Finds The Subtle Bugs In My C Programs," attributed to Claude B. Finn, V.P. Software Development, EnMasse Computer Corporation. The tagline at the bottom reads "The SAFE C™ Family Can Literally Cut Software Development Time In Half. For UNIX™ and VAX/VMS.™"

Alt...

Vintage magazine advertisement for SAFE C™, a software development tool for UNIX and VAX/VMS. A man in a dark sweater and jeans sits casually on a desk next to a computer terminal and keyboard. A testimonial quote reads "It Finds The Subtle Bugs In My C Programs," attributed to Claude B. Finn, V.P. Software Development, EnMasse Computer Corporation. The tagline at the bottom reads "The SAFE C™ Family Can Literally Cut Software Development Time In Half. For UNIX™ and VAX/VMS.™"

cryptography nerds

how good is https://monocypher.org/

#askfedi #soatoknoticemesempai #cryptography #clanguage #c

What is the best book you've ever read on C portability issues and other C foot guns?

#programming #c

Automated Equality Checks in C++ with Reflection (C++26) https://lobste.rs/s/dmqgar #c++
https://lemire.me/blog/2025/11/09/automated-equality-checks-in-c-with-reflection-c26/

A distraction-free writing environment https://lobste.rs/s/7gyuha #c
https://github.com/andrewmd5/dawn

#maxima #commonLisp #CAS #algebra #article https://screwlisp.small-web.org/fundamental/common-lisp-maxima-finally/

> (integrate '(tan x) 'x 0 1)
(* -1 (LOG (COS 1)))
> '(1 2 3 4)
(1 2 3 4)
> (coerce * '(SIMPLE-ARRAY (COMPLEX DOUBLE-FLOAT) (*)))
#(#C(1.0 0.0) #C(2.0 0.0) #C(3.0 0.0) #C(4.0 0.0))
> (maxima-fft:fft-r2-nn *)
#(#C(2.5 0.0) #C(-0.5 -0.5) #C(-0.5 0.0) #C(-0.5 0.5))

I guess #retrocomputing but current was August, so.

Also have a note about Kent demoing his implementation of his-ansi-cl style error handling introduced to python.

Giving C a Superpower: custom header file (safe_c.h) https://lobste.rs/s/ts2xa7 #c #programming
https://hwisnu.bearblog.dev/giving-c-a-superpower-custom-header-file-safe_ch/

Compiler Options Hardening Guide for C and C++ https://lobste.rs/s/lvqmcz #c #c++
https://best.openssf.org/Compiler-Hardening-Guides/Compiler-Options-Hardening-Guide-for-C-and-C++.html

How to write type-safe generics in C https://lobste.rs/s/uc3a3b #c #programming
https://raphgl.github.io/blog/generics-in-c.html

the last couple years in v8's garbage collector via @fanf https://lobste.rs/s/jtpw7d #c++ #javascript
https://wingolog.org/archives/2025/11/13/the-last-couple-years-in-v8s-garbage-collector

Rust in Android: move fast and fix things https://lobste.rs/s/nrrijz #c++ #rust
https://security.googleblog.com/2025/11/rust-in-android-move-fast-fix-things.html

1 Problem, 7 Libraries (on the GPU) https://lobste.rs/s/ekzild #video #c++ #python
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEwREnUdbFs

Parsing integers in C via @RunxiYu https://lobste.rs/s/6dfpil #c
https://daniel.haxx.se/blog/2025/11/13/parsing-integers-in-c/

What's new in Herb v0.8 by @marcoroth https://lobste.rs/s/adk54c #c #compilers #editors #ruby #wasm
https://herb-tools.dev/blog/whats-new-in-herb-v0-8

Practical Security in Production Hardening the C++ Standard Library at massive scale https://lobste.rs/s/yuwqaq #c++ #security
https://queue.acm.org/detail.cfm?id=3773097

One Weird Hashing Trick https://lobste.rs/s/d6hdwo #c #math
https://notes.hella.cheap/one-weird-hashing-trick.html

Conditional Members https://lobste.rs/s/uzhufs #c++
https://brevzin.github.io/c++/2021/11/21/conditional-members/

Subscripts and sizes should be signed (2018) via @dubroy https://lobste.rs/s/6k8npc #pdf #c++
https://open-std.org/jtc1/sc22/wg21/docs/papers/2019/p1428r0.pdf

Zig / C++ Interop https://lobste.rs/s/0zfxtn #c++ #zig
https://tuple.app/blog/zig-cpp-interop

Trip report: November 2025 ISO C++ standards meeting (Kona, USA) https://lobste.rs/s/gfurgn #c++
https://herbsutter.com/2025/11/10/trip-report-november-2025-iso-c-standards-meeting-kona-usa/

The Linux Kernel Looks To "Bite The Bullet" In Enabling Microsoft C Extensions https://lobste.rs/s/3vyjzk #c #linux
https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linux-6.19-Patch-Would-MS-Ext

Why I don't love Rust (either) https://lobste.rs/s/irzh59 #c++ #rust
https://cbarrete.com/rust-bad.html

Challenges and Benefits of Upgrading Sea of Thieves From C++14 to C++20 https://lobste.rs/s/ghkvqm #video #c++ #games
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nm9-xKsZoNI

Problems With Move Semantics in C++ https://lobste.rs/s/syxfbv #video #c++
https://youtu.be/Klq-sNxuP2g

Pragma unroll https://lobste.rs/s/vhu8g3 #c #c++
https://www.sandordargo.com/blog/2025/11/05/unroll-pragma

By the power of grayscale https://lobste.rs/s/bs7gqr #c #graphics
https://zserge.com/posts/grayskull/

Recursive macros in C, demystified (once the ugly crying stops) https://lobste.rs/s/qxwozm #c #c++
https://h4x0r.org/big-mac-ro-attack/

Comparing C++/Qt Data Serialization Formats: Code, Size, and Performance https://lobste.rs/s/0zssdw #c++
https://www.qt.io/blog/comparing-data-serialization-formats

Rewrite, Optimize, Repeat: Our Journey Porting a Triemap from C to Rust https://lobste.rs/s/mzkw9y #video #c #performance #rust
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0AUP2OgppE&list=PL2b0df3jKKiRFEuVNk76ufXagOgEJ9sBZ&index=9

C++ move semantics from scratch (2022) https://lobste.rs/s/sbrnnl #c++
https://cbarrete.com/move-from-scratch.html

Abstract Syntax Tree: An Example in C via @abnv https://lobste.rs/s/zsoyox #c #compilers
https://keleshev.com/abstract-syntax-tree-an-example-in-c/

Notes by djb on using Fil-C (2025) https://lobste.rs/s/zc73xh #c #security
https://cr.yp.to/2025/fil-c.html

Reflection for aggregates (2020) https://lobste.rs/s/n727oo #c++
https://akrzemi1.wordpress.com/2020/10/01/reflection-for-aggregates/

Three Meanings of Reference https://lobste.rs/s/tkbuou #c++
https://www.sandordargo.com/blog/2025/10/29/three-meanings-of-reference

Developing a web server with C and FastCGI https://lobste.rs/s/q2ghg1 #c #web
https://jsloop.net/2025/10/27/developing-a-web-server-with-c-and-fastcgi

Writing a C Compiler, in Zig via @abnv https://lobste.rs/s/4knb8i #c #compilers #zig
https://asibahi.github.io/thoughts/c-compiler-1-zig/

Fil-C: A memory-safe C implementation https://lobste.rs/s/mg0aur #c
https://lwn.net/SubscriberLink/1042938/38d8dde9db211cab/

InvisiCaps By Example via @pushcx https://lobste.rs/s/nxohby #c #compilers
https://fil-c.org/invisicaps_by_example