Coder from the 70s here: Don't use special characters!!

Started by rcjordan, July 06, 2021, 02:58:09 PM

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rcjordan


ergophobe


ergophobe

Little Bobby Tables comes to mind. Sweet kid. Unfortunate name for lazy coders

https://xkcd.com/327/

rcjordan

>Bobby

I think it was Gimp who posted this photo here years ago:

SQL Injection Fools Speed Traps And Clears Your Record | Hackaday
https://hackaday.com/2014/04/04/sql-injection-fools-speed-traps-and-clears-your-record/

littleman

That SQL injection is very smart and funny.  Twenty-two years ago my wife chose to hyphenate her last name and I was really surprised by how many programs that little dash broke.

rcjordan

>hyphen

My wife's dad was head of the state's driver license & record division and was in charge when the state first converted to a computer system in the mid-1950s. (The license/ID to drive, not the tags on the bumper.)  It was a 6- or 7-digit field, but he did assign a some 'vanity' lifetime numbers to himself, his wife, a few cabinet members, and the governor. He assigned "1" to the governor.

The governor died in office a few months later, so the number became available and my FIL re-assigned it himself.  Everything went fine for 30+ years, the "1" even getting him out of speeding tickets. (No patrolman who wants to keep his job is going to write a ticket to some old guy with Driver License #1.)  Then checkout lines in big box stores started to computerize and they keyed your DL number if you paid by check.