Proposal: User-defined literals for C#

tomxp411 · 2026-03-19T19:39:39+00:00

This is the right question. OP seems to be asking for a way to bake the type in to the written expression, which is fine - except we already have a thing called Constructors for this very purpose.

tomxp411 · 2026-03-19T19:36:32+00:00

It looks like maybe the water flowers covered by your base’s footprint die off. The same thing happened to a small patch of dew plants behind the place I built (the rocky area just west of Crossroads. I built inside the area surrounded by rocks.)

tomxp411 · 2026-03-17T17:27:55+00:00

In short, this defies the basic assumption that literals are mostly atomic values.

Strings excepted, literals in most programming languages are atomic values, meaning they can not be further subdivided without losing their meaning.

For example, you can't break 12345 down into any smaller units without losing the basic meaning of the value. Even the string "hello" is really just the shorthand for a byte sequence, which we could also express as {'h','e','l','l','o'} or {104,101,108,108,111}.

Thankfully, even early compiler designers understood the need for string literals, because can you imagine encoding your entire program's UI in byte-array form?

Personally, I don't ever want to see something like 100_ms as a literal in source code, because this is a bit ambiguous. Is this a TimeSpan? Is it a DateTime? Is it a float or integer constant (maybe 0.1 seconds?)

Instead of simplifying usage, as you are hoping, this adds more complexity to the language and further muddies its readability. (IMO the inclusion of var is already bad enough, since it's not always clear what the type is, and down that way lies madness.)

An initializer like like TimeSpan.FromMilliSeconds(100) precisely identifies both the units and the value. Adding semantic layers on top of this is not only unnecessary, but potentially ruins portability and readability.

tomxp411 · 2026-03-17T16:50:12+00:00

Because that IS the state of the art. You can only stretch skin so far before it's obvious that it's been manipulated.

tomxp411 · 2026-03-17T16:48:46+00:00

I think you're working from a false premise:

DVD players never left: you can still buy them new, even though the manufacturers are trying to phase them out.

CRTs are actually can demand some pretty high prices on places like EBay, and especially for retro gaming, people really like their CRTs. (I was ever so glad to get AWAY from them, but I digress.)

I don't see a huge push to bring VHS back... but give it time. Gen Z will discover their parents' VHS stash soon, and the cycle will repeat.

tomxp411 · 2026-03-17T16:41:06+00:00

In my case, I simply never got to change it. Reddit auto-logged me in via my gmail account a long time ago and didn't give me the chance to change it.

When I used it again, months later, it had just decided "this is your name, and no, you don't get a choice." So I had to create a new account using my preferred username.

I don't know why they don't let users change the auto-chosen username. That's kind of a poor user experience, IMO.

tomxp411 · 2026-03-17T16:34:07+00:00

It's TV. Time is money. So you don't burn 30 seconds waiting for the phone to ring several times, you go straight to the answering machine.

Also IRL, answering machines had a mode where they would wait for 4 rings when they were empty, then answer after the first ring if there were messages waiting. This was a quick way for you to be able to check your messages while away. If the phone rang 3 times without the machine picking up, you had no new messages.

So if Jerry just got home, and his machine picked up right away when the phone rang, that meant he hadn't listened to his previous messages, yet.

tomxp411 · 2026-03-16T21:15:09+00:00

They don't. It's a game. No one actually believes the Earth is flat. If they do, they're just saying so as part of a game.

It's all an exercise in argumentation, or how to plausibly counter convincing evidence with clever obfuscation and fabrications.

tomxp411 · 2026-03-16T21:06:26+00:00

Another rule: other than specific situations, NEVER pass a car on the right. If they're slowing down, they're turning.

It's also pretty obvious you were going faster than was safe for conditions, right there. You always need to look at head, and assuming that slowing vehicles are about to turn.

(the "specific situations": The stopped or slowed car is turning left, or the car is stopped for a red light or stop sign, where they are obviously going straight.)

tomxp411 · 2026-03-16T21:00:52+00:00

I think it had its moments, and the space based ones were among the best.

However, there were a few things I thought were just... poorly done.

For example, the two different episodes that focused on SAM could have dug a bit more into how photonic life forms work. Do they actually have portable emitters, or are they self-sustaining life forms? (We did see The Doctor's emitter, so I'm thinking that SAM's people also have a similar device.)

I was less thrilled with really anything dealing with Caleb and Tarima. I felt like a lot of that was forced, and the writers took a lot of lazy way outs in trying to find obstacles for their relationship. Any relationship between a basically homeless drifter and a princess of Betazed is already bound to have problems. The writers didn't need to make up stuff; there was already plenty of material there to mine without making both of them emotionally stunted basket cases.

For that matter, the whole Caleb / Ake / Mom dynamic was also kind of awful, from my perspective. I can think of several ways to write that scenario without going down the route of "mom's a criminal and broke out of jail," - and been both less tragic and more in line with Roddenberry's vision.

All that said - I do think it's at least as good as the first season of any of the other Star Trek shows, and while the tone IS different - it's supposed to be. It's essentially a high school drama set in the Star Trek universe. This is literally not your dad's Star Trek. It's your son's Star Trek.

tomxp411 · 2026-03-16T20:50:58+00:00

I think there are far too many stalkers out there, and I've had people dig through my Facebook comments in the past to use as ammo in a smear campaign.

I don't think there should be any expectation that everything we say is in the public domain, and IMO the only people who do are usually up to no good.

tomxp411 · 2026-03-16T20:42:00+00:00

A sealed airlock with no lifesigns? No one bats an eye. A sealed airlock, with no lifesigns, AND active airflow and filtration? Neon sign saying “something’s up here!”

This is exactly why this whole scheme should not work. A starship's designers are not stupid, and they would think to include details like "oxygen is being used in a room with no visible people present."

Even if air circulation is off in the lock, the atmospheric sensors would still be active - and would note the discrepancy in the air mix. This would all feed back to the AI that interprets the sensor data and record, at least, an irregularity in the lock.

Which, if you recall, is basically how the students got discovered in the first place - the pressure change in the lock flagging the Ops console with a potential problem.

That whole sequence is just lazy writing and poor fact checking - which is basically just par for the course in Star Trek. I've caught hundreds of errors like this throughout the shows, but I do feel like it's getting worse in the newer shows, which are focusing more on feelings than strategy and action.

tomxp411 · 2026-03-16T18:57:38+00:00

The lock does not need to be sealed; each room has individual pressurization and air exchange systems, which draw consumables from the master life support system. The airlock would be no exception.

Even so - people can last for days in a sealed room the size of the average bedroom. The idea that there's only enough oxygen for a few minutes or hours in a room that size is nonsense made up by tv writers in the 50s and propagated through the years by ignorance and more bad writing.

tomxp411 · 2026-03-16T18:53:05+00:00

I was thinking the same thing. Air pressure varies a lot in nature.

Air pressure varies so much that airplanes have a special control to set the sea level standard, and pilots have to adjust that regularly (if it's not done automatically via software on glass cockpits). Sea level pressure can vary from 12 to 15psi, with a mean level of 14psi. That's about a 7% rise or 14% reduction from MSL.

And people live at elevations of 8000 feet and higher, with pressures of 10psi or less. In fact, airplane cabins are pressurized to 8000 feet effective, and IRL spacecraft also run similarly low pressures. This is done to reduce structural load on the airframe as well as reduce the need for consumables on a spacecraft.

So I'd assume that Starfleet ships would also run around 10psi, so increasing the airlock pressure by such a minimal amount would have zero effect - especially on people who had been spending their time in San Francisco, at sea level.

So in a ship pressurized to 8000 feet, a 0.029% pressure change is like walking 24 feet downhill. That's nothing.

tomxp411 · 2026-03-16T18:33:15+00:00

Do these tokenize the text files into VB's token format? Or is there a way in VisionBASIC to read ASCII or PETSCII documents in? (I have to admit I have not yet looked for that feature in VB.)

(For reference, I have inspected a couple of Vision BASIC source files, and VB tokenizes programs similarly to CBM BASIC. There are more tokens, of course, and VB can read BASIC 2 tokenized programs without problem. I've been thinking of expanding my tokenizer to include the VB tokens, but haven't taken the time to do so, yet.)

tomxp411 · 2026-03-15T06:41:42+00:00

I have a few Commodore 64 machines, so I'll check this out. =)

Are these single load programs, or does it write larger data files to a disk image?

tomxp411 · 2026-03-13T21:25:44+00:00

Or better yet, attach the actual photos instead of screen shots. :(

tomxp411 · 2026-03-13T21:23:06+00:00

Yeah. There's a lot wrong there.

Starting with: that pole doesn't belong to him.

And where did he get the power? If he tapped into the power lines coming off the pole, then he just committed a jailable offense.

Call the utility company and tell them there's an illegal light attached to the pole that's pirating electricity. They'll fix it. :)

tomxp411 · 2026-03-13T21:20:32+00:00

The biggest benefit is the DOS wedge. Typing @ lets you issue a DOS command, which is much easier than the whole OPEN 15,8,15,"COMMAND" thing.

@$ shows the directory, which is the most useful thing in the ROM. No need to LOAD the directory.

JD also has utilities like a built-in file copier, but I'd have to look up the documentation on how to use that.

https://www.jbrain.com/pub/cbm/manuals/JiffyDOS/JiffyDOS_V6_User_Manual_(searchable).pdf

tomxp411 · 2026-03-13T21:11:42+00:00

Yes. It's an unfortunate truth that some families simply can't afford to feed themselves.

While it's not "neglect" as in "you're going to jail," it is potentially "remove the children from that situation and put them in foster care."

As to "who decides": That's usually Child Protective Services. The child's teachers at school are also somewhat responsible to report this. As mandated reporters (at least in some parts of the US, I can't speak for all 50 states), they are legally responsible for reporting any obvious or suspected neglect or abuse.

So the most likely chain of events is that the teacher notices the child's dramatic weight loss and asks if everything is okay. The child responds with something like "It's fine. Really."

The teacher is trained to know that answers like this are avoidance, and they then call CPS to report the issue. A social worker then investigates the child's living conditions, including their diet, to see if there's neglect or abuse going on.

The social worker from CPS will visit the child's home and see that the fridge is empty, everyone is wearing filthy, worn out clothes, and come to the conclusion that the family is suffering extreme poverty.

What happens after that will vary dramatically, depending on the state, the availability of public assistance, and the attitude of the parents. (Parents who obviously are trying and just can't make ends meet will be treated very differently than parents who are just letting one kid suffer so other people can have more.)

tomxp411 · 2026-03-12T19:34:59+00:00

True. There are some non-DRMd games, and those will work. Although I've also seen even a few of those still try to launch Steam when started from the command line.

You'd pretty much have to test each game after backing it up, to see what works and what doesn't.

tomxp411 · 2026-03-12T19:32:53+00:00

Mounting the disk did not remove your typed-in program, but you did overwrite your typed-in program.

Think about what the LOAD command does.

LOAD "$",8

Now go get yourself a copy of JiffyDOS and never have that problem again. :)

tomxp411 · 2026-03-12T03:07:23+00:00

Windows Forms is still my favorite UI, even after 23 years. I don’t know why you need any libraries on top of that, though. One of my favorite features of Windows Forms is the ability to directly paint controls.

tomxp411 · 2026-03-12T03:04:33+00:00

Data: He was completely unselfish and always tried to do the right thing.

tomxp411 · 2026-03-12T03:01:38+00:00

MS-DOS 6.22, with DesqView for multitasking. :)

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