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1500 questions
3166
votes
13 answers

event.preventDefault() vs. return false

When I want to prevent other event handlers from executing after a certain event is fired, I can use one of two techniques. I'll use jQuery in the examples, but this applies to plain-JS as well: 1. event.preventDefault() $('a').click(function (e) { …
RaYell
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3133
votes
32 answers

"Least Astonishment" and the Mutable Default Argument

Anyone tinkering with Python long enough has been bitten (or torn to pieces) by the following issue: def foo(a=[]): a.append(5) return a Python novices would expect this function to always return a list with only one element: [5]. The…
Stefano Borini
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3130
votes
33 answers

Initialization of an ArrayList in one line

I wanted to create a list of options for testing purposes. At first, I did this: ArrayList places = new ArrayList(); places.add("Buenos Aires"); places.add("Córdoba"); places.add("La Plata"); Then, I refactored the code as…
Macarse
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3125
votes
20 answers

Echo newline in Bash prints literal \n

How do I print a newline? This merely prints \n: $ echo -e "Hello,\nWorld!" Hello,\nWorld!
Sergey
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3123
votes
41 answers

Why is "using namespace std;" considered bad practice?

I've been told by others that writing using namespace std; in code is wrong, and that I should use std::cout and std::cin directly instead. Why is using namespace std; considered a bad practice? Is it inefficient or does it risk declaring ambiguous…
akbiggs
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3120
votes
44 answers

JavaScript closure inside loops – simple practical example

var funcs = []; // let's create 3 functions for (var i = 0; i < 3; i++) { // and store them in funcs funcs[i] = function() { // each should log its value. console.log("My value: " + i); }; } for (var j = 0; j < 3; j++) { // and now…
nickf
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3119
votes
31 answers

Git refusing to merge unrelated histories on rebase

During git rebase origin/development the following error message is shown from Git: fatal: refusing to merge unrelated histories Error redoing merge 1234deadbeef1234deadbeef My Git version is 2.9.0. It used to work fine in the previous version.…
Shubham Chaudhary
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3118
votes
50 answers

Detecting an undefined object property

What's the best way of checking if an object property in JavaScript is undefined?
Matt Sheppard
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3113
votes
20 answers

What is the difference between Python's list methods append and extend?

What's the difference between the list methods append() and extend()?
Claudiu
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3106
votes
12 answers

How do I copy a folder from remote to local using scp?

How do I copy a folder from remote to local host using scp? I use ssh to log in to my server. Then, I would like to copy the remote folder foo to local /home/user/Desktop. How do I achieve this?
Slasengger
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3100
votes
96 answers

How do you disable browser autocomplete on web form field / input tags?

How do you disable autocomplete in the major browsers for a specific input (or form field)?
Brett Veenstra
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3091
votes
37 answers

How do I pass a variable by reference?

Are parameters are passed by reference or value? How do I pass by reference so that the code below outputs 'Changed' instead of 'Original'? class PassByReference: def __init__(self): self.variable = 'Original' …
David Sykes
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3091
votes
54 answers

How to stop EditText from gaining focus when an activity starts in Android?

I have an Activity in Android, with two elements: EditText ListView When my Activity starts, the EditText immediately has input focus (flashing cursor). I don't want any control to have input focus at startup. I…
Mark
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3089
votes
62 answers

How do I format a date in JavaScript?

How do I format a Date object to a string?
leora
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3087
votes
43 answers

Add a column with a default value to an existing table in SQL Server

How can I add a column with a default value to an existing table in SQL Server 2000 / SQL Server 2005?
Mathias
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