Monday, December 13, 2010

Monday: data types

Sorry, I'm a bit rambly today. And it's probably about something that most people don't care about.

Data types got me again.

I wish that when I say "does 2981000 = 2981000?" the answer would always be yes. But no, the answer is sometimes no. Because apparently one of them is really a string and one of them is a number.

As much as I complain about this, it's been one of my largest problems with the program I've written and so I'm always on the watch for it. Sadly though, it also tends to be a latent error as the question is often "does 298A231 = 298A231?", to which the answer is always yes.

Don't you wish that the computer was just smart enough to know what you want?

P.S. I don't want any comments about any crazy camel programs that could do this. :p

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