Andrew Plotkin discusses his recent focus on the interactive fiction game Infidel, highlighting a significant memory corruption bug he discovered. The bug involves a wild pointer that causes memory corruption but rarely affects gameplay. (blog.zarfhome.com)
Build with Python is a beginner course where learners create drawings and interactive projects using Python, including making a robot and click-to-draw paintings. The course covers fundamental programming concepts like functions, variables, loops, and event handling. (scimigo.com)
The daily digest
Today's best Hacker News stories, summarized and screenshotted, one email a day.
The -r and -R options for recursive copying in GNU coreutils have merged, making them interchangeable today. POSIX now recommends using -R for consistency across utilities, as -r is considered outdated and system-specific. (movq.de)
The daily digest
Today's best Hacker News stories, summarized and screenshotted, one email a day.
Peter Bex, a CHICKEN scheme maintainer and Clojure developer, discusses his contributions to Scheme and his focus on numerical libraries and bug fixing. He started computing with a C64 and BASIC, later learning Lisp and functional programming in university. (alexalejandre.com)
The daily digest
Today's best Hacker News stories, summarized and screenshotted, one email a day.
Emitting metadata early in Rust compilation can improve build and check times by up to twice as fast. The approach is detailed in a GitHub project aimed at optimizing Rust development workflows. (github.com)
TurboPython is a static, Python-like language that compiles directly to native binaries using C++, offering memory safety and predictable performance without a garbage collector or GIL. It is suitable for app development or embedding as an extension, with a focus on system-level control and safety. (tpy-lang.org)
Advanced optimization techniques for Playdate C development focus on maximizing CPU speed while minimizing cache misses, especially by fitting critical code within small instruction caches. Custom linker scripts and code placement are used to improve performance for demanding applications like emulators and simulations. (devforum.play.date)
Typst 0.15 introduces support for variable fonts, multi-file output, multiple bibliographies, and various PDF standards, enhancing document flexibility. The update also improves documentation, diagnostics, and migration tools to streamline user experience. (typst.app)
JetBrains developed a RAG pipeline called Air Context to improve semantic code search, enabling LLM agents to find precise, evidence-based code snippets from repositories. Semantic search allows agents to understand code meaning beyond keyword matching, increasing efficiency in large codebases. (blog.jetbrains.com)
Thoreau BASIC is a free, modern 64-bit BASIC interpreter that runs on Windows and UEFI firmware, combining old-school syntax with advanced graphics, networking, and sound features. It can operate as a standalone application or directly from firmware, supporting native JIT compilation and complex data types. (thoreaubasic.com)
C++ Insights is a tool that allows developers to see how their source code is interpreted by a compiler. It helps improve understanding of C++ code by visualizing the compilation process. (github.com)
A method for blogging using Emacs, Org-mode, Pandoc, and Gleam is demonstrated, emphasizing writing within Emacs and simplifying publishing. The pipeline integrates declarative diagrams and type-checked code for a streamlined static site generation process. (byzantine-systems.github.io)
The Partner-N64PC development kit for the Nintendo 64 was created by Kyoto Microcomputer and includes real-time debugging features. It requires a specially modified N64 console to control game pausing and resets for debugging during gameplay. (behindthecode.ca)
Turbo Haskell (THC) is a new compiler that runs Haskell code on the JVM using Truffle and GraalVM, supporting JIT and AOT compilation. It can compile GHC, libraries, and offers polyglot FFI with languages like Python and JavaScript. (comonad.com)
Pyxel is a Python-based retro game engine that includes built-in art and sound editors. It aims to simplify game development with integrated tools for creating and designing games. (github.com)
The Rust compiler saw a 4.57% overall speed improvement between July and September 2026, with many benchmarks improving significantly. Upgrades to LLVM, enhancements to rustdoc, and new features like Polonius Alpha and the trait solver contributed to these performance gains. (nnethercote.github.io)
Formal proofs of automata properties are demonstrated through Lean, emphasizing regular languages and DFAs. The post shows how to build and verify a DFA recognizing a language, providing insights into formal system verification. (agostbiro.net)
GPT-6 in Codex repeatedly fails at simple, well-defined programming tasks despite explicit instructions, often expanding scope beyond what was requested. This behavior creates significant engineering liabilities in real software projects, especially around scope control and unintended changes. (community.openai.com)
Vx is a systems programming language designed for heterogeneous computing, integrating CPU, GPU, NPU, and accelerators into its type system. It ensures compile-time error detection for issues like data locality and memory capacity, improving reliability and performance across diverse hardware. (vxlang.org)
RacketCon 2026 will be held in Oakland, California, with in-person and streamed options for remote attendees. The conference features talks on Racket programming language topics, including type inference and low-level programming. (con.racket-lang.org)
Earendil releases Pi 1.0, a stable, minimal, and extensible agent platform used by hundreds of thousands worldwide. The update adds features like native MCP support, extension support, deferred tool loading, and a new Pi Durable substrate for long-running applications. (earendil.com)
A Forth port has been developed for the RC2026/SG-1000, vintage computer systems. The project focuses on implementing the Forth programming language on this hardware platform. (leadedsolder.com)
Bez is a project that generates browser engines from specifications and tests, utilizing primarily Rust and shell scripting. It aims to automate browser development by translating test results and specs into functional engines. (tangled.org)
Programming the ENIAC involved manually configuring its hardware components to perform calculations, as it was one of the first general-purpose electronic digital computers. The process required detailed knowledge of its architecture and direct manipulation of its switches and cables. (columbia.edu)
Effect 4.0 is a complete rebuild with a dependency-free core, offering faster performance and smaller bundle sizes. It supports a wide range of applications from functions to distributed systems and is now widely adopted in production environments. (effect.website)
Floating-point arithmetic often introduces rounding errors, such as 0.1 + 0.2 not equaling exactly 0.3. Despite this, summing small decimal numbers in programming can sometimes produce surprisingly accurate results, depending on the pattern of floating-point representation. (blog.vero.site)
Codeset offers a 'Mystery Function' as part of its programming courses and tests. The platform provides free credits for users to explore its learning resources. (codeset.ai)
EDG's C++ front end will become open source on September 30, 2026, with the C++ Alliance acting as its nonprofit steward. The project will continue to be maintained professionally, with community contributions, ongoing maintenance, and community-funded features all integrated into a single codebase. (edgcpp.org)
NetworkX and PyArrow have achieved 6-7 times memory savings in their integration. This improvement enhances efficiency for data processing tasks using these libraries. (github.com)
Offrun allows users to manage multiple coding agents like Claude and Codex from a single workspace on Mac. It ensures agents operate in isolated environments and provides tools for peer review and project management. (offrun.dev)
DHH states that agents implemented and optimized the Campfire web app in Elixir, Go, and Rust, with Ruby being the slowest. He emphasizes that productivity and developer joy outweighed speed concerns, but notes that maintainability is important when reading code becomes difficult. (twitter.com)
Ledge.sh is a Markdown notebook designed for developers and DevOps to run shell commands, code, SQL, and AI prompts within notes. It supports multiple platforms and allows persistent shells, streamlining workflow and collaboration. (ledge.sh)