What writing a tiny bytecode VM taught me about debugging long-running programs
https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1pplwnm/what_writing_a_tiny_bytecode_vm_taught_me_about/

<!-- SC_OFF -->While working on a small bytecode VM for learning purposes, I ran into an issue that surprised me: bugs that were invisible in short programs became obvious only once the runtime stayed “alive” for a while (loops, timers, simple games). One example was a Pong-like loop that ran continuously. It exposed: subtle stack growth due to mismatched push/pop paths error handling paths that didn’t unwind state correctly how logging per instruction was far more useful than stepping through source code What helped most wasn’t adding more language features, but: dumping VM state (stack, frames, instruction pointer) at well-defined boundaries diffing dumps between iterations to spot drift treating the VM like a long-running system rather than a noscript runner The takeaway for me was that continuous programs are a better stress test for runtimes than one-shot noscripts, even when the program itself is trivial. I’m curious: What small programs do you use to shake out runtime or interpreter bugs? Have you found VM-level tooling more useful than source-level debugging for this kind of work? (Implementation details intentionally omitted — this is about the debugging approach rather than a specific project.) <!-- SC_ON --> submitted by /u/Imaginary-Pound-1729 (https://www.reddit.com/user/Imaginary-Pound-1729)
[link] (https://vexonlang.blogspot.com/2025/12/vexon-what-building-small-bytecode.html) [comments] (https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1pplwnm/what_writing_a_tiny_bytecode_vm_taught_me_about/)

Under the Hood: Building a High-Performance OpenAPI Parser in Go | Speakeasy
https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1ppp6cm/under_the_hood_building_a_highperformance_openapi/

submitted by /u/BrewedDoritos (https://www.reddit.com/user/BrewedDoritos)
[link] (https://www.speakeasy.com/blog/building-speakeasy-openapi-go-library) [comments] (https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1ppp6cm/under_the_hood_building_a_highperformance_openapi/)

How SQLite Is Tested
https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1pps0iv/how_sqlite_is_tested/

submitted by /u/mallenspach (https://www.reddit.com/user/mallenspach)
[link] (https://sqlite.org/testing.html) [comments] (https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1pps0iv/how_sqlite_is_tested/)

Closure of Operations in Computer Programming
https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1ppskt4/closure_of_operations_in_computer_programming/

submitted by /u/deniskyashif (https://www.reddit.com/user/deniskyashif)
[link] (https://deniskyashif.com/2025/12/18/closure-of-operations-in-computer-programming/) [comments] (https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1ppskt4/closure_of_operations_in_computer_programming/)

Beyond Abstractions - A Theory of Interfaces
https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1ppt0ti/beyond_abstractions_a_theory_of_interfaces/

submitted by /u/bloeys (https://www.reddit.com/user/bloeys)
[link] (https://bloeys.com/blog/beyond-abstractions-a-theory-of-interfaces) [comments] (https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1ppt0ti/beyond_abstractions_a_theory_of_interfaces/)

std::ranges may not deliver the performance that you expect
https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1pptozz/stdranges_may_not_deliver_the_performance_that/

submitted by /u/_bijan_ (https://www.reddit.com/user/_bijan_)
[link] (https://lemire.me/blog/2025/10/05/stdranges-may-not-deliver-the-performance-that-you-expect/) [comments] (https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1pptozz/stdranges_may_not_deliver_the_performance_that/)

Probability stacking in distributed systems failures
https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1ppuvve/probability_stacking_in_distributed_systems/

<!-- SC_OFF -->An article about resource jitter that reminds that if 50 nodes had a 1% degradation rate and were all needed for a call to succeed, then each call has a 40% chance of being degraded. <!-- SC_ON --> submitted by /u/that_is_just_wrong (https://www.reddit.com/user/that_is_just_wrong)
[link] (https://medium.com/@vedantcj/beyond-the-average-engineering-for-resource-jitter-in-distributed-systems-ffec6add2e08) [comments] (https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1ppuvve/probability_stacking_in_distributed_systems/)

Python Guide to Faster Point Multiplication on Elliptic Curves
https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1ppv03i/python_guide_to_faster_point_multiplication_on/

submitted by /u/DataBaeBee (https://www.reddit.com/user/DataBaeBee)
[link] (https://leetarxiv.substack.com/p/glv-point-decomposition) [comments] (https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1ppv03i/python_guide_to_faster_point_multiplication_on/)

Reconstructed MS-DOS Commander Keen 1-3 Source Code
https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1ppxhdj/reconstructed_msdos_commander_keen_13_source_code/

submitted by /u/r_retrohacking_mod2 (https://www.reddit.com/user/r_retrohacking_mod2)
[link] (https://pckf.com/viewtopic.php?t=18248) [comments] (https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1ppxhdj/reconstructed_msdos_commander_keen_13_source_code/)

The impact of technical blogging
https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1ppykuk/the_impact_of_technical_blogging/

<!-- SC_OFF -->How Charity Majors, antirez, Thorsten Ball, Eric Lippert, Sam Rose... responded to the question: “What has been the most surprising impact of writing engineering blogs?" <!-- SC_ON --> submitted by /u/swdevtest (https://www.reddit.com/user/swdevtest)
[link] (https://writethatblog.substack.com/p/the-impact-of-technical-blogging) [comments] (https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1ppykuk/the_impact_of_technical_blogging/)

No Graphics API
https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1ppz5tl/no_graphics_api/

submitted by /u/mttd (https://www.reddit.com/user/mttd)
[link] (https://www.sebastianaaltonen.com/blog/no-graphics-api) [comments] (https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1ppz5tl/no_graphics_api/)

GitHub walks back plan to charge for self-hosted runners
https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1ppzbqx/github_walks_back_plan_to_charge_for_selfhosted/

submitted by /u/CackleRooster (https://www.reddit.com/user/CackleRooster)
[link] (https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/17/github_charge_dev_own_hardware/?td=rt-3a) [comments] (https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1ppzbqx/github_walks_back_plan_to_charge_for_selfhosted/)

Introducing React Server Components (RSC) Explorer
https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1ppzddh/introducing_react_server_components_rsc_explorer/

submitted by /u/mariuz (https://www.reddit.com/user/mariuz)
[link] (https://overreacted.io/introducing-rsc-explorer/) [comments] (https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1ppzddh/introducing_react_server_components_rsc_explorer/)

Your job is to deliver code you have proven to work
https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1ppzixe/your_job_is_to_deliver_code_you_have_proven_to/

submitted by /u/ccb621 (https://www.reddit.com/user/ccb621)
[link] (https://simonwillison.net/2025/Dec/18/code-proven-to-work/) [comments] (https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1ppzixe/your_job_is_to_deliver_code_you_have_proven_to/)

RoboCop (arcade) The Future of Copy Protection
https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1ppzwek/robocop_arcade_the_future_of_copy_protection/

submitted by /u/NXGZ (https://www.reddit.com/user/NXGZ)
[link] (https://hoffman.home.blog/2025/12/18/robocop-the-future-of-copy-protection/) [comments] (https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1ppzwek/robocop_arcade_the_future_of_copy_protection/)

Clean Code: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1pqf4am/clean_code_the_good_the_bad_and_the_ugly/

submitted by /u/aivarannamaa (https://www.reddit.com/user/aivarannamaa)
[link] (https://gerlacdt.github.io/blog/posts/clean_code/) [comments] (https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1pqf4am/clean_code_the_good_the_bad_and_the_ugly/)

Elm on the Backend with Node.js: An Experiment in Opaque Values
https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1pqgq2b/elm_on_the_backend_with_nodejs_an_experiment_in/

submitted by /u/cekrem (https://www.reddit.com/user/cekrem)
[link] (https://cekrem.github.io/posts/elm-on-the-backend-with-nodejs/) [comments] (https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1pqgq2b/elm_on_the_backend_with_nodejs_an_experiment_in/)

I found the stupidest take on Vibe Coding
https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1pql7bw/i_found_the_stupidest_take_on_vibe_coding/

<!-- SC_OFF -->Choose the stupid and discuss. I will join. My favorite quote was: "You are no longer the person placing every single brick. You are the site manager pointing at the wall and saying, "Build that higher."" If someone would (a very dumb person) kickstart a construction company by hiring random "average joe" people to do what he says, and google everything about it before you do, and he was "just" a guy who thinks big buildings are cool (like everyone is "just" something). I would NOT move into that building, or even visit it. Quote your favorite one! <!-- SC_ON --> submitted by /u/hiskias (https://www.reddit.com/user/hiskias)
[link] (https://www.designgurus.io/blog/vibe-coding-guide?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23163907085&gbraid=0AAAAADME9yrwhh3Pn4emui6N9e6TSIGXY&gclid=Cj0KCQiAjJTKBhCjARIsAIMC4496p8jeDlvlPl7NzYAKygn6pb3Uu8ETEcUnO-OXzcajV4U6-B0Ec9IaAi2FEALw_wcB) [comments] (https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1pql7bw/i_found_the_stupidest_take_on_vibe_coding/)

Registry you can actually query
https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1pqm8f2/registry_you_can_actually_query/

<!-- SC_OFF -->Running a private registry is easy; making it searchable isn't. Here's how reg taps SQLite to expose fast queries without touching S3. <!-- SC_ON --> submitted by /u/swdevtest (https://www.reddit.com/user/swdevtest)
[link] (https://writethat.blog/reg.html) [comments] (https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1pqm8f2/registry_you_can_actually_query/)

AI’s Unpaid Debt: How LLM Scrapers Destroy the Social Contract of Open Source
https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1pqodkn/ais_unpaid_debt_how_llm_scrapers_destroy_the/

submitted by /u/yoasif (https://www.reddit.com/user/yoasif)
[link] (https://www.quippd.com/writing/2025/12/17/AIs-unpaid-debt-how-llm-scrapers-destroy-the-social-contract-of-open-source.html) [comments] (https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1pqodkn/ais_unpaid_debt_how_llm_scrapers_destroy_the/)

Vulnerabilities in artificial intelligence platforms: the example of XSS in Mintlify and the dangers of supply chain attacks
https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1pqpt6s/vulnerabilities_in_artificial_intelligence/

<!-- SC_OFF -->The flaw discovered in this article arose from an endpoint that served static resources without validating the domain correctly, allowing Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) on large customer websites. Although it was not a case of 'AI-generated' code being executed at runtime, the platform itself is powered by AI. This raises a larger concern: even when LLMs do not directly create vulnerable code, the AI ecosystem in general accelerates the adoption and integration of third-party tools, prioritizing speed and convenience, often at the expense of thorough security analysis. Such rapid integrations can lead to critical flaws, such as inadequate input validation or poor access controls, creating a favorable environment for supply chain attacks. Research shows that code generated by LLMs often contains common vulnerabilities, such as XSS, SQL injection, and missing security headers. This leads to a reflection: does this happen because the models are trained on billions of lines of old code, where insecure practices are common? Or is it because LLMs prioritize immediate functionality and conciseness over the robustness of the security architecture? <!-- SC_ON --> submitted by /u/Fragrant-Age-2099 (https://www.reddit.com/user/Fragrant-Age-2099)
[link] (https://gist.github.com/hackermondev/5e2cdc32849405fff6b46957747a2d28?referrer=grok.com) [comments] (https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1pqpt6s/vulnerabilities_in_artificial_intelligence/)