wsj.com
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The word, used by computer scientists to mean ‘no value,’ has created long-running challenges

  • einkorn@feddit.org
    63·
    2 days ago

    When Your Last Name Is Null, Nothing Works

    No, when people DON’T PROPERLY SANITIZE THEIR USER INPUT, nothing works!!!

    Looks like little Bobby Tables has some extended family.

  • infeeeee@lemm.ee
    10·
    2 days ago

    This topic pops up in random news sites like every 5 years, and usually the conclusion is people with these names have less and less problems, as systems evolve.

    Nowadays names which looks like some vulgar words cause more problems, it’s called the Scunthorpe problem from the city of Scunthorpe. As this is a shitty article, this actual problem is not even mentioned, classic.

    • y0kai@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      31·
      2 days ago

      Lol one of the characters in my D&D group is named Farthard (pronounced Far-thard) and his steed is named Shithead (pronounced Sha-theed)

  • remotelove@lemmy.ca
    19·
    2 days ago

    Who the hell writes if 'null'? If it’s a thing, what language would interpret a string like that?

    • ursakhiin@beehaw.org
      4·
      2 days ago

      I’d bet it’s less simple input sanitizing and more 2 mistakes made separately because they don’t know any better.

      1. The input field converting everything to a string indiscriminately
      2. Because they did 1, converting everything back to the assumed type

      If the front end Dev makes the first mistake, null would be sent in the body as “null”. Then on the backend, somebody might even be binding the variables correctly, but before hand realizing they have to deal with the market and rather than just have a conversation undoes it in their own code.

  • 0x0@programming.dev
    4·
    2 days ago

    This seems to be old news, and paywalled.

    Edit: gee, thanks MSN. The article i’d read was about the license plate.

    Morgan Null, in black, with her parents and brother, all Nulls. lol

    Not that rare of a name apparently…

  • PhobosAnomaly@feddit.uk
    3·
    2 days ago

    Taking the issue at face value, I wonder what Johnny Null’s workaround would be for his (or their) name?

    N’ull? Nul-l? \Null? Null? JohnnyN ull?