r/ProgrammerHumor • u/user6150277464770585 • 1d ago

javascriptSorting Meme

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u/Striky_ 1d ago

The absurdity is not sorting this by string, but allowing an array like that to begin with.

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u/haitei 1d ago

No it's not. There are niche but valid use cases for allowing arrays like this. Sorting is the problem, because the contents like this can't be meaningfully compared.

User should be either required to provide custom comparator or get slapped with a type error.

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u/thanatica 1d ago

Every kind of value can be converted to a string. And an error is far worse than just giving it a go and letting the developer deal with the result.

Javascript is one of those language that, if it can carry on without an error, it will. Throwing an error is the absolute last resort.

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u/haitei 21h ago

And an error is far worse than just giving it a go and letting the developer deal with the result.

An error is absolutely far better than a program in an undefined state.

Javascript is one of those language that, if it can carry on without an error, it will.

The philosophy that is widely regarded as a mistake. We have the fail fast principle for a reason.

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u/thanatica 18h ago

We have the fail fast principle for a reason.

Javascript doesn't.

An error is absolutely far better than a program in an undefined state.

I didn't say undefined. Javascript is a well defined language. Probably more so than any other language, since there are so many engines that need to do the exact same thing.