this post was submitted on 12 Aug 2023
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Explain Like I'm Five

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What happens to the ampersand on the internet? (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 year ago by SacredHeartAttack@lemmy.world to c/explainlikeimfive@lemmy.world
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I feel like whenever I see the ampersand on this website, it’s followed with “amp;”. I’ve noticed it other places on the internet also. Why does this happen? Is it some programming thing?

Just for a test: &

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[–] Zarxrax@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

But, shouldn't this have been a solved problem like, back in the 90s? Why is it that modern software like Lemmy still has issues with it?

[–] Kaato112487@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

There are good reasons why software may wish to ignore escape characters, but this likely comes down to human error. There are many programming problems that have been solved for decades, but occasionally you'll still see them appear in newer software for that reason.

From my own work, I certainly have code that isn't 100% right, but it works well enough that I instead spend my time in other areas.