The Old New Thing
Practical development throughout the evolution of Windows.
Latest posts
Oct 16, 2025
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1
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1
Using RAII to remedy a defect where not all code paths performed required exit actions
Passing the obligation onward.
Oct 15, 2025
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6
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3
Why can you increment a reference count with relaxed semantics, but you have to decrement with release semantics?
It's more important to clean up when you leave.
Oct 14, 2025
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11
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5
I remember taking a screen shot of a video, and when I opened it in Paint, the video was playing in it! What witchcraft is this?
You copied the green screen.
Oct 13, 2025
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4
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3
API design principle: Don’t tempt people to divide by zero
Remove it from the equation.
Oct 10, 2025
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5
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2
The self-assignment principle for Windows Runtime properties: Don’t change behavior based on whether a property has been written to
The fact that a property has been set does not by itself trigger functionality.
Oct 9, 2025
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4
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2
The self-assignment principle for Windows Runtime properties applies to default values
The default value must be legal.
Oct 8, 2025
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7
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2
Windows Runtime API design principles around read-write properties: Idempotence and self-assignment
Setting it to the value it already has is not a crime.
Oct 7, 2025
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6
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2
Remembering the end of support for VRML in Internet Explorer
No one left standing.
Oct 6, 2025
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10
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3
Code comments should apply to the state of the system at the point the comment “executes”
Putting them in the flow.