From 5b47232893ddbf19745e7a825135a306b8d5355e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Paul Gowder <paul.gowder@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 12 Jul 2016 23:09:20 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] add 30 line comment containing tirade against javascript

---
 content.js | 37 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-----
 1 file changed, 32 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/content.js b/content.js
index 700f3f4..4cf3d96 100644
--- a/content.js
+++ b/content.js
@@ -1,11 +1,38 @@
-// get an array of every link on page
+// Get an array of every link on page
 
 var links = document.getElementsByTagName("a");
 
-// function to transform arraybuffer to base64 string.  Don't ask me how it works, this part is
-// entirely from stackoverflow and people who understand how encodings work (i.e., not me).
-// also, javascript is a really janky language.  Look at how much easier it is in the python
-// code in this repo for comparison... 
+// Next: function to transform arraybuffer to base64 string.  I'm a little shaky on how it works, this part is
+// entirely from stackoverflow and people who understand how encodings work better than me.
+
+// As best I can infer from various MDN doc pages and SO, arraybuffer is how you have to receive a binary file (see line 46 below)
+// (why? dunno, but see https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/XMLHttpRequest/responseType ).  Blob does NOT work for this
+// use, and I have no idea whatsoever why, but I spent hours trying.
+
+// But then, you can't actually work with an arraybuffer.  Because, Javascript. Instead, you have to change it to a typed array.
+// (see https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/ArrayBuffer ). There are many different
+// kinds of typed arrays available. (see https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/TypedArray ).
+// I went with an unsigned 8-bit integer array ( https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Uint8Array )
+// solely because that's what someone on stackoverflow did, and there aren't, you know, any actual usable docs to explain why.
+
+// Executive summary: Javascript is a really janky language.  Look at how much easier it is in the Python
+// code in this repo for comparison. In Python it's seriously one method, called "encode," called on a file object.
+// But Javascript is on bath salts, so you have to:
+
+// 1.  Specify a precise data type for the response you receive, rather than just trusting the server to tell you what type. The reason for
+// the precise type you have to return is left a mystery.
+
+// 2. Create a second type of data structure from the first, not by calling a function on the first one but by instantiating the constructor
+// for some class (uh, prototype, I guess, since this is JS?) for it.
+
+// 3.  Use some string method on every element of that new data structure to pretend that new data structure (a bunch of ints, remember)
+// is really intended to be unicode values (yes, that's what the string method in question really does!
+// see https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/String/fromCharCode )
+
+// 4.  Then, and only then, can you have a base64 encoding. From a string made from a sequence of pretend unicode characters that are really
+// just ints representing a chunk of binary data into which the perfectly good binary file that the server sent has been coerced.
+
+// 5. Cry. Drink heavily. Cry some more. Search ebay for a lock of Brendan Eich's hair and a book of curses. Drink some more. Cry some more.
 
 function transform(blob) {
     return btoa(String.fromCharCode.apply(null, new Uint8Array(blob)));