Kablooie: A History of Errors & a Future of Solutions
summary
Argues for treating errors as recoverable entities rather than only things to banish, tracing JavaScript’s exception model back to PL/I and noting surprises like the removed nonstandard multi‑catch syntax and how promise.catch chains can leave errors uncaught unless restructured; examines concrete tools and patterns — async/await pitfalls, FigureWheel keeps last good state, React error boundaries, Rosette synthesis, recovery blocks and algebraic handlers — and proposes augmenting exceptions with signal/notify/escape semantics to enable safe live recovery.
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chapters (10)
- 0:00Start
- 2:15CURSE
- 3:13ERRORS MAKE US INVENTIVE
- 4:06ERRORS ARE INEVITABLE
- 14:56THE STRANGE THE HYBRID THE HUMAN
- 15:48errors in history
- 20:15rigor + robustness
- 21:03escape signal notify requires termination | caller's choice II forbids termination
- 22:16stealing good ideas from further afield
- 23:14reframe our relationships with computers
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