Hacker News
1Claude's system prompt is over 24k tokens with tools
Jailbreaking system prompts
Discussion of how easily Claude's copyright and content restrictions can be bypassed using XML-style system messages, leading to broader concerns about AI safety and control mechanisms.System prompt inefficiency
Debate about the computational cost of long system prompts, token caching solutions, and whether instructions should be baked into model weights rather than sent with every request.Prompt authenticity verification
Exploration of methods to verify if leaked system prompts are genuine, including comparing with official documentation and testing model responses for consistency.
2Matt Godbolt sold me on Rust by showing me C++
- A comparison between C++ and Rust programming languages in handling API design safety, focusing on a stock order example. The article illustrates how Rust's built-in safety features make it easier to prevent common programming mistakes that C++ requires extensive code to catch, even without considering Rust's famous memory safety benefits.
"Result" type and error handling
Extensive discussion about Rust's Result type and error handling compared to C++, with many praising Result's consistency while noting some limitations and the role of panics as a separate error mechanism.Language safety vs library features
Debate over whether Rust's advantages come from language design or just better standard libraries, with arguments about implicit conversions and type safety being inherent language features rather than library choices.Named parameters
Discussion about the lack of named parameters in Rust, with many developers citing them as a missing feature and comparing to other languages like Swift, Python, and Objective-C that handle this well.
3Zed: High-performance AI Code Editor
- Zed, an open-source code editor built in Rust, introduces AI-powered features through its new Agent Panel. Users can interact with AI agents to modify code, ask questions, and automate tasks while maintaining privacy. The editor offers both free and paid plans, with options to use various language models or bring your own API keys.
Extension system development
Discussion about Zed's evolution from Lua to WebAssembly for extensions, with former intern sharing experience working on the system and current developers confirming the benefits of choosing WASM over JavaScript.Performance and rendering issues
Users reporting blurry text and performance problems on Linux/Windows, particularly with non-Apple displays. Debate about whether issues stem from GPU rendering, monitor resolution, or font rendering implementation.AI integration reception
Mixed reactions to Zed's AI features - some praise new agent capabilities while others prefer minimal LLM integration. Discussion about ability to disable AI features and comparison with other editors' AI implementations.
4CLion Is Now Free for Non-Commercial Use
- CLion, JetBrains' IDE for C and C++ development, is now available for free for non-commercial use, such as learning, open-source projects, content creation, and hobby development. The full-featured IDE requires users to accept anonymous usage data collection and follows similar free licensing models already implemented for RustRover, Rider, and WebStorm.
AI startup valuations vs JetBrains
Discussion contrasts JetBrains' $5B valuation after 25 years of making quality developer tools against inflated valuations of new AI coding startups, with debate about market dynamics, investor behavior, and bubble indicators.Telemetry concerns
Debate around JetBrains requiring telemetry data collection for free non-commercial licenses, with some users criticizing it as privacy-invasive and others defending it as a fair trade for free software.Product quality and performance
Users share mixed experiences with JetBrains IDEs - praising their superior code introspection and refactoring capabilities while noting performance issues like memory usage and freezes on some systems.
5Ty: A fast Python type checker and language server
- ty is a high-speed Python type checker and language server built in Rust, currently in pre-release development and not yet production-ready. The project actively welcomes bug reports and contributions through issues and pull requests in the Ruff repository, and is distributed under the MIT license.
Performance vs mypy/others
Discussion of ty's superior speed compared to existing type checkers, with users reporting 18s vs 0.5s comparisons. Some caution it's pre-alpha with potential false positives but excitement about speed.Python tooling evolution
Astral's impact on Python ecosystem by introducing faster Rust-based tools (uv, ruff, ty) to replace slower alternatives. Discussion of whether this represents a broader trend of Rust improving language tooling.Type checking challenges
Debate about difficulties in type checking Python due to dynamic features, Django integration, and comparison with TypeScript's approach. Discussion of limitations in Python's type annotation system.
6India launches attack on 9 sites in Pakistan and Pakistani Jammu and Kashmir
Conflict escalation risks
Discussion centers on potential escalation factors including water rights suspension via Indus Waters Treaty, Pakistan's economic vulnerability, and nuclear capabilities, though most believe full-scale war is unlikely.Military claims credibility
Debate over Pakistan's claim of downing 5 Indian aircraft, with skepticism due to lack of evidence and changing numbers. Discussion notes how conflict transparency differs from Ukraine war coverage.Economic implications
Analysis of how the conflict affects US companies' manufacturing shifts from China to India, with consensus that impact will be limited unless conflict spreads beyond border regions.
7Unity’s Open-Source Double Standard: the ban of VLC
- VLC for Unity's integration was banned from Unity Store in 2023 due to LGPL licensing issues, despite Unity itself using LGPL dependencies. In response, Videolabs launched their own store to continue distributing VLC for Unity binaries and offer multimedia consulting services for LibVLC and FFmpeg projects.
LGPL license interpretation
Discussion of LGPL vs GPL requirements, focusing on how LGPL allows proprietary apps to link to open-source libraries if certain conditions are met, and confusion around implementation requirements across platforms.Unity's inconsistent stance
Debate about Unity banning LGPL assets while using LGPL components themselves, with discussion of whether the ban stems from legal concerns about ensuring proper LGPL compliance in third-party assets.VideoLabs & VLC relationship
Clarification that VideoLabs is legitimately connected to VLC, employing core VLC developers while keeping the software free through the non-profit VideoLAN organization.
8VVVVVV Source Code
- VVVVVV, a 2010 indie game created by Terry Cavanagh with music by Magnus Pålsson, has released its source code publicly. While the game remains commercially available, users can compile it for personal use. The project features contributions from various developers, including Simon Roth, Ethan Lee, and localization teams.
Personal experiences with Terry Cavanagh
Discussion of meeting the developer in person, his approach to game design through experimentation rather than grand visions, and how he was very approachable and helpful to aspiring developers.Game's difficulty and impact
Users share memories of the challenging "Veni Vidi Vici" section, completing all trinkets, and how they unexpectedly got hooked on what seemed like a simple 2D platformer.Code quality and game development
Discussion about the game's messy code base, Flash-to-C++ port quirks, and debate over whether "bad" code in successful games shows that perfect code isn't necessary for great products.
9Launch HN: Exa (YC S21) – The web as a database
- Exa Websets is a new search engine that uses embeddings and LLMs to provide precise search results for complex queries. Unlike traditional keyword-based search engines, it returns exact matches by understanding query meaning and verifies results using LLM intelligence, presenting data in customizable table format.
Sign-up UX concerns
Debate about requiring account creation before showing search results, with some seeing it as sneaky and others defending it as reasonable. Discussion of dark patterns and web usability.Performance and limitations
Users report slow search times, system downtime, and UI feedback issues. Company acknowledges limitations in product types, non-English content, and explains focus on people, companies and papers.Pricing feedback
Users find the credit-based pricing model too expensive for regular use, with 1000 free credits depleting quickly and $49/month tier only allowing ~10 searches, limiting adoption despite finding the tool useful.
10Waiting for Postgres 18: Accelerating Disk Reads with Asynchronous I/O
- Postgres 18 Beta 1 introduces a significant architectural change with Asynchronous I/O (AIO), moving away from its traditional synchronous I/O model. This new feature offers substantial performance improvements, particularly in cloud environments with network-attached storage, potentially doubling read performance through new I/O methods like worker-based and io_uring implementations.
Windows vs Linux async I/O
Discussion comparing Windows' long-standing async I/O capabilities (IOCP since 1994, new IORing) with Linux's io_uring, noting how Linux had to catch up and that both platforms now have similar capabilities for async I/OCloud storage limitations
Debate about cloud providers' artificial IOPS limitations compared to consumer NVMe drives, with AWS/Azure offering 20k IOPS while consumer drives achieve 1M+. Discussion of enterprise tradeoffs and cloud pricing inefficienciesPostgres backup strategies
Users sharing Postgres deployment configurations, backup tools and strategies, with emphasis on dedicated hardware setups vs cloud, and recommendations for robust backup solutions like Barman and pgbackrest over simple pg_dump approaches