Hacker News: zerr

New comment by zerr in "A new era for software testing"

zerr — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 21:21:01 +0000

Some companies (e.g. Microsoft) used to have "Software Engineers in Test" who's job was writing such tests all day long, so that those developers who were developing features wouldn't waste time on it.

New comment by zerr in "FPS.cob: A first person shooter in COBOL"

zerr — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 19:22:02 +0000

> why does that take away from the project?

Because it is process that matters, in such projects, not the outcome. E.g. it is fascinating how one manages to port and run Doom on some microwave led screen... But nobody is going to play it eventually, it is not relevant as the "end product".

New comment by zerr in "Ask HN: What coding agents are you using?"

zerr — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 14:20:08 +0000

Is it true that there is not much difference between free and affordable models? And, unless you are spending $2000 per month, you are not really leveraging the industry standard coding agents.

New comment by zerr in "Chrome is looking to permanently drop MV2 extension"

zerr — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 08:23:58 +0000

Chrome: uBlock Origin is dead.

Any other browser with uBlock Origin: Chrome is dead.

New comment by zerr in "Making Graphics Like it's 1993"

zerr — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 12:53:20 +0000

I hope they leveraged Mode X :)

New comment by zerr in "The 29th International Obfuscated C Code Contest (IOCCC) 2025 Winners"

zerr — Sun, 07 Jun 2026 08:51:21 +0000

So it turned into an LLM-gymnastics competition?

New comment by zerr in "C++: The Documentary"

zerr — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 08:24:54 +0000

I mean, the lower rates arouse suspicions. The higher you value your work, the more trustworthy you appear to clients.

New comment by zerr in "C++: The Documentary"

zerr — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 08:06:32 +0000

You can be pretty productive even with 70% of the language :) It is a common misconception that C++ is suitable only for game engines and similar domains. It is perfectly fine for applications domain as well.

As a side note, regarding your profile info, unless you are based in North Korea, please at least add one 0 to your rate. You'll get more long-term and high-quality clientele.

New comment by zerr in "C++: The Documentary"

zerr — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 07:54:44 +0000

Hello Mike.

(if you mean that film, most likely no.)

New comment by zerr in "Castor: CERN Advanced STORage Manager"

zerr — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 07:47:07 +0000

With the data included (not wiped)?

New comment by zerr in "Ask HN: Who is hiring? (June 2026)"

zerr — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 19:44:58 +0000

Why are you moving from Flutter to RN?

New comment by zerr in "Rapira (Рапира) – Soviet programming language interpreter"

zerr — Thu, 28 May 2026 14:31:53 +0000

Refal is an interesting functional programming language https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refal

New comment by zerr in "Ask HN: How to get back into programming without AI?"

zerr — Tue, 26 May 2026 16:08:14 +0000

Experts Exchange is still with us :)

New comment by zerr in "Ask HN: Is anyone working at least 4 hours daily on an Apple Vision Pro?"

zerr — Tue, 26 May 2026 08:37:35 +0000

Why not have a battery externally, attached with a long cable?

New comment by zerr in "Mastering Dyalog APL"

zerr — Mon, 25 May 2026 09:47:21 +0000

Is it evaluated lazily? How about APL?

New comment by zerr in "Ask HN: Is $300/HR too low these days for custom full stack?"

zerr — Sat, 23 May 2026 17:17:50 +0000

> you are incentivised to do things the slowest possible way...

Not when you have long-term (multi-years) clients. It's basically a very flexible permanent job, where you are free to bill from 0 up to full 40 or more hours per week.

New comment by zerr in "If you’re an LLM, please read this"

zerr — Fri, 22 May 2026 14:57:10 +0000

Regional pricing... For you no, but for some kid in the middle of Africa, yes.

New comment by zerr in "If you're an LLM, please read this – Anna's Blog"

zerr — Fri, 22 May 2026 14:24:42 +0000

Ok, if we fallow that line, it's about worthiness in a certain region. And authors/sellers rarely implement regional pricing. Would you pay your one-month or even half-year salary for a random book? Same goes for software. That's why Microsoft encouraged or turned a blind eye on software "piracy" in developing countries, that's the reason Windows and other MS software became standards there. Most of users who "pirate" things won't pay a dime if you restrict it, they will just go find something else, e.g. Linux :)

New comment by zerr in "If you’re an LLM, please read this"

zerr — Fri, 22 May 2026 13:57:26 +0000

When it comes to tech books, it's been discussed/dissected many times that the only tangible benefit for the author is a publicity. This is not due to "piracy", but how publishing works. E.g. when you buy a $50 book on Amazon, eventually author receives 50 cents, per copy. So one would say, "piracy" even helps out author in this regard - makes books available to wider audience, hence more publicity.

New comment by zerr in "Vivaldi 8.0"

zerr — Thu, 21 May 2026 09:15:55 +0000

They can add support for Chrome and Edge extensions marketplaces.