• expatriado@lemmy.world
    40·
    8 days ago

    wouldn’t 0 be 0 and -1 underflow to 255 if 8 bit container? intentional error to enhance engagement?

    • Khanzarate@lemmy.world
      60·
      8 days ago

      You’re correct but you have an off by 1 error.

      First, the genie grants the wish.

      NumWishes=0;

      Then, having completed the wish, the genie deducts that wish from the remaining wishes.

      NumWishes–;

      And to complete the thought,

      Lastly, the genie checks if the lampholder is out of wishes

      If(NumWishes==0) {…}

      (255==0) evaluates to False, so we fall past that check.

        • Szyler@lemmy.world
          1·
          5 days ago

          You have 3 wishes.

          First wish: I wish my last wish would count as me consuming two wishes. Second wish: I wish to have 0 wishes remaining.

          First wish puts you down one wish, so ending at 2. Second wish removes one wish, so at one, then wish happens putting you at 0,

          then because this second wish now becomes your last, as you have 0 remaining, the first wish then takes effect and consumes another wish, putting you to - 1 and overflowing.

          • expatriado@lemmy.world
            4·
            8 days ago

            i think both solutions are valid, since sometimes you pay before and sometimes after receiving the service

        • Khanzarate@lemmy.world
          3·
          8 days ago

          Genie in the OP image would’ve said “OK you now have 0 wishes”.

          Since he said 255, my interpretation is a valid solution.

          Of course, if we’re talking hypothetical wish gaining prevention methods, I’d just have a check before,

          previous_wishes = wishes;

          {Do all the wish things. wishes ends up with a 255 because of our shenanigans}

          If(wishes>=previous_wishes) wishes = previous_wishes-1;

          ;If the current number of wishes isnt less than the old number of wishes, set it to the old number and subtract 1

          If(wishes==0) {/*TODO: write function to end wish giving sequence*/}

        • mohab@piefed.socialEnglish
          11·
          8 days ago

          I would assume this to be the case since you cannot un-utter a wish—once you say it, it is counted as a wish before it’s fulfilled.

          If the counter is decremented only after the wish is fulfilled, then this means you can go back on wishes because they don’t count until they’re fulfilled, which goes against the lore.

          • wheezy@lemmy.ml
            4·
            8 days ago

            Well, not entirely. There are cases for which a person utters the wish and it is not counted. “I wish for a million wishes!”

            The standard is for the genie to explain the exceptions but not count that as a wish.

            Now, it could decrement the count after this check. But just decrementing the count before verification would be sloppy.

            But, then again, basic verification would also include checking that wishes_remaining <= MAX_WISHES.

            Which, I think is a pretty standard check for genie’s. Given that that constant has remained at 3 since their beta days and exceptions are thrown for violations of this rule.

          • Khanzarate@lemmy.world
            1·
            8 days ago

            Nah theres just no process for undoing your submission.

            It doesn’t matter when it’s decremented if you can’t interrupt the process, anyway.

            In a code sense we pause for input, feed it to the wishmaker function, and pause until the thread returns, then decrement.

            We could decrement first, also, but neither violates the rules.

  • palordrolap@fedia.io
    16·
    8 days ago

    Then you find out the genie uses a signed data value and you now owe him a wish. You’re not granted magic. You’re compelled to grant the wish. The only restrictions on the genie’s wish is that it must be within your (soft, squishy) mortal power.

    I can imagine you being reset to the point of the genie’s wish every time you die (naturally or otherwise) without succeeding. This could well turn into a Groundhog Day type situation.

  • TheFogan@programming.devEnglish
    121·
    8 days ago

    Wouldn’t it depend on the order of operations, you’d think even vibe coding a genie would still have the sense to lower the counter before granting the wish.

    So logically

    Wishes = 3

    Make wish count zero.

    *wish used, wish count 2

    Wish applied, wish count 0

    • Feathercrown@lemmy.worldEnglish
      6·
      8 days ago

      It seems logical to decrement after the wish is granted, imo. Just causes issues in this particular case…

      • TheFogan@programming.devEnglish
        6·
        8 days ago

        Dunno, I know enough duplicate exploits in games to know giving the effect then reducing the item, is a pretty common source of duplication hacks/bugs.

        I guess it comes down to which is the designer is more afraid of happening, the chance of a wish being expended but not granted, or granted without expending.

        Then again based on disney’s aladin, tricking the genie into rescuing him without using a wish, it does seem practical to assume that the genie errors on the side of granting without expending.

  • sun_is_ra@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    3·
    8 days ago

    Should’ve been “make -1 wishes” 0 is 0

    Edit:oh I get it. First the gene fullfill the wish then subtract one from the 0 wishes.

  • Jankatarch@lemmy.world
    2·
    8 days ago

    Id they were optimized to use unsignrd they would be optimized to use 2 bits for 3 wishes rather than 8. You have 3 wishes left.