My logic was simply: I need a buffer that is only initialised once no matter how many times the function is called. statics are initialised at program start so they seemed like a good fit. and since I wasn’t planning for the function to me called multiple times simultaneously it seemed like the UB didn’t matter. (which I think was correct)

Thanks! That’s exactly the answer I was looking for.

The premature optimisation quote at the end of your blog post is very relevant to me. I try do find the most efficient way right off the bat so very frequently the first questions I have in a project are like this one. Which in turn lead me to understand the underlying basics, which make me want to implement those basics myself, which sends me down a spiral to wanting to write my own kernel. All the while the project I started with gets forgotten, until I pick it up a month later and the whole thing starts again.

Maybe I should just try and learn C… or zig. And try and hold myself to the higher quality standard they demand. Especially since it feels like I’m doing that already.

One example: Instead of building a wind farm, we are arguing about economic impact, and then still stay on coal while we that argument occurs.

I agree, we should shut down the coal plants and start rationing energy instead. That way you can be sure that the green energy plants will get built efficiently. Nothing like a little discomfort to get people moving.

(This is only a half-serious point. There is a part of me that thinks this will actually work but overall I think it causes more problems than the gradual change.)