Content-Type: text/shitpost

In a recent article, I mentioned a proposal of Bjarne Stroustrup to allow overloading of whitepsace in C++. I did not read it closely, as the content seemed in offensively poor taste.

Gareth McCaughan gently pointed out that the proposal's date is April Fool's Day, and then, when I missed what he was getting at, he pointed it out less gently.

I admit, I was completely taken in. The humor here was definitely too subtle for me. The proposal was not far enough out of character. If Edsger Dijkstra or Joe Armstrong had published this proposal, I would have known right away it was a joke. If Larry Wall had, I would have had to read it twice and even then I would not be sure.

If Hannibal Lecter claims to have eaten a baby, your first thought is not to check if it is April 1.

It is a thin hope, but at least now I can look forward to the possibility that Stroustrup might someday announce that C++ itself had been a similar joke.