Hacker News Reader

sparky4proon QBE – Compiler Back End

There are at least 2 Go libraries written in Go, based on QBE. One is used by this project: https://github.com/xplshn/gbc

sparky4proon Diverse organic molecules on Mars revealed by the first SAM TMAH experiment

> This legitimizes future missions/spending on life searching missions to the Martian surface.

How about spending money to get clean drinking water to the whole humanity (and other living creatures) here on earth first?

sparky4proon Diverse organic molecules on Mars revealed by the first SAM TMAH experiment

They found molecules on Mars? Great, now we know that Mars is made out of different materials. But we knew that before we sent a lonely Rover over there.

Wake me up if they find ATP (adenosine triphosphate). Without ATP no life.

sparky4proon Meet The Przewalski's Horse: The Last True Wild Horse on Earth

These horses have similar markings as the wild Kiger Mustangs in Oregon.

Kiger Mustangs are a distinct, protected population of wild, free-roaming horses found in the Steens Mountain region of southeastern Oregon. They are descendants of early Spanish horses and are known for their dun-colored markings.

sparky4proon Closing this as we are no longer pursuing Swift adoption

Swift != GC

sparky4proon Swift is a more convenient Rust (2023)

This! Also, for new APIs Apple reduces (or does not provide) Objective-C documentation.

I really tried to love Swift, but in the end I ended up with 1 project using Swift/SwiftUI, and all the other apps I started to write, I rewrote in Zig or Rust, because the Swift compiler kept giving me vague error messages with no hint which Swift file was the culprit or/and which line/column the error was.

YMMV

sparky4proon Vibecoding #2

Suppose that when someone is retired, there is more time doing stuff, but time is running out…

If someone is in their 30’ or 40’ planning to work the next 5+ years on a project is no problem, even if it takes 10+ years in the end.

For the ones over 65 or older, it’s a different story…

sparky4proon The C3 Programming Language

Xgo

sparky4proon The FreeBSD Foundation's Laptop Support and Usability Project

Is Asahi Linux alive?

sparky4proon Gnome is better macOS than macOS

If I remember correctly, in old UNIX desktop environments apps still ran after closing the last app window.

sparky4proon Gnome is better macOS than macOS

This is not a macOS issue, it’s an app developer issue. If the app developer likes the behavior that the app still runs after closing the last app window, this is how the app will act. Some newer Apple apps close the application when the window is closed.

sparky4proon Gnome is better macOS than macOS

To switch the app/window closing behavior… there is an API for that.

sparky4proon Gnome is better macOS than macOS

On macOS only the dock can be moved to the side. The application menu (left) and the statusbar menu (right) will always be on top of the screen. Which makes sense to me.

sparky4proon Why is Zig so cool?

Good point.

BTW: Your reply made me laugh so hard… I loved it.

Thanks.

sparky4proon Why is Zig so cool?

Same can be said about other programming languages. Therefore the comment of yours has zero value…

sparky4proon Show HN: Rift – A tiling window manager for macOS

Yep, Loop does all I need and is not in my way.

sparky4proon Systems Programming with Zig

Garrison Hinson-Hasty is writing a book about a programming language that is still in flux seems a little bit… hasty. Sorry, couldn’t resist…

sparky4proon Systems Programming with Zig

Tried to use Swift outside Xcode and it’s a pain. Especially when writing CLI apps the Swift compiler chocked and says there is an error, mentioning no line number. Good luck with that. Also the Swift tooling outside Xcode is miserable. Even Rust tooling is better than that, and Swift has a multi billion dollar company behind it. What a shame…

sparky4proon LLM Inevitabilism

This is a nice article as it triggers “think before you use it” mentality.

However, at the same time, it suggests the idea that rational thinking without any deep seated perception or hidden motivation is possible.

This is not possible.

Therefore, all greedy people in this field will push anything that gives them what they want.

They will never care if what they do or promote will help “mankind” to a long term beneficial direction.

sparky4proon Redesigned Swift.org is now live

I’m happy for you and everyone else who has had the same experience as you. I’ve saved my Swift CLI apps, so I might try it again when a new version comes out, hopefully they fixed such behavior.

sparky4proon Redesigned Swift.org is now live

I would like to work with a Swift version with reduced functionality (IMHO over time Swift became the same monstrosity as C++) but the embedded version cannot be used with “normal” operating systems only embedded ones. Why this artificial boundary? Apple…

sparky4proon Redesigned Swift.org is now live

Swift is usable (on Apple operating systems) if you use the add ons that Apple provides (like SwiftUI). Other than that… forget about it. Tried to use Swift for CLI apps (on macOS) and it failed miserably. The reason: after reaching a certain code size the Swift compiler is reporting vague syntax errors without line numbers. Unacceptable in 2025.

sparky4proon Odin: A programming language made for me

Here is a more comprehensive C std library: https://github.com/KaisenAmin/c_std Found it recently and started using it a few days ago.