I don't think that casting a range of bits as some other arbitrary type "is a bug nobody sees coming".

C++ compilers also warn you that this is likely an issue and will fail to compile if configured to do so. But it will let you do it if you really want to.

That's why I love C++

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[–] magic_lobster_party@fedia.io 55 points 2 months ago (4 children)

There are no medals waiting for you by writing overly clever code. Trust me, I’ve tried. There’s no pride. Only pain.

[–] Chrobin@discuss.tchncs.de 26 points 2 months ago (2 children)

It really depends on your field. I'm doing my master's thesis in HPC, and there, clever programming is really worth it.

[–] magic_lobster_party@fedia.io 14 points 2 months ago

Well as long you know what you’re doing and weigh the risks with the benefits you’re probably ok.

In my experience in the industry, there’s little benefit in pretending you’re John Carmack writing fast inverse square root. Understanding what you wrote 6 months ago outweighs most else.

[–] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 6 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Clever as in elegantly and readable or clever as in a hack that abuses a bug/feature and you need to understand the intricacies to understand half of it?

[–] Chrobin@discuss.tchncs.de 12 points 2 months ago

Honestly, also the latter. If you are using hundreds of thousands of cores for over 100h, every single second counts.

[–] merc@sh.itjust.works 8 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Not only that, but everyone who sees that code later is going to waste so much time trying to understand it. That includes future you.

[–] Zacryon@feddit.org 5 points 2 months ago (1 children)

That what comments and documentation are for.

[–] merc@sh.itjust.works 7 points 2 months ago (1 children)

A yes, comments.

int flubTheWozat(void *) {
  for (int i=0; i<4; i++) {
    lfens += thzn[i] % ugy;  // take mod of thnz[i] with ugy and add to lefens.
  }
  return (lfens % thzn[0]) == 4; // return if it's 4ish
}

[–] Zacryon@feddit.org 5 points 2 months ago

Haha, meaningful, informative comments that make it easier to understand the code of course. ;)

[–] Ajen@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Debugging code is always harder that writing it in the first place. If you make it as clever as you can, you won't be clever enough to debug it.

[–] magic_lobster_party@fedia.io 3 points 2 months ago

Some junior will call it ”skill issues” and then write the most unreadable code ever.

[–] Zacryon@feddit.org 3 points 2 months ago

But I must o p t i m i z e! ó_ò

Yes, let's spend two hours on figuring out optimal values of preallocating a vector for your specific use-case. It's worth the couple of microseconds saved! Kleinvieh macht auch Mist.