Ben Newman: February 2009 Archives

Last October, in an attempt to convert one type of pointer to another, a task that calls for a static_cast in C++ terminology, I made an eensy-weensy typo, and the results were so cute that I had to let the whole world know. The whole Internet, at least.

Four months later, I’m delighted to announce that I have the highest Google PageRank for the term static_cats:

Here’s the twitter update in full:

C++ mavens will know of other breeds: dynamic_cats, const_cats, and reinterpret_cats. If you’ve read Old Possum’s Book (or seen the musical Cats), then practical_cats and jellicle_cats may also spring to mind.

What feline characteristics would you impute to static, dynamic, const, and reinterpret cats? If the functions practical_cast and jellicle_cast were added to the C++ standard, what would you have them do?

Saw a presentation last year in cs547 about this technology, so I’m aware that a slightly different configuration of the “Happy” and “Jazz” sliders might have produced an interpretation a little less schizoid. But what would be the fun in that? I for one welcome this new dawn of angst-free music that MSR and Songsmith have ushered in.