--- title: The Error Check | daily.dev description: A developer named Stevie works in a C codebase where a long-time developer established a confusing error-checking convention: storing function return values in... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/the-error-check-q1iguhibe twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: The Error Check | daily.dev og:description: A developer named Stevie works in a C codebase where a long-time developer established a confusing error-checking convention: storing function return values in... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/the-error-check-q1iguhibe og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/Q1IguHIbE.png og:image:alt: The Error Check og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # The Error Check **[The Daily WTF](https://daily.dev/sources/thedailywtf)** · 2 min read · 2 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A developer named Stevie works in a C codebase where a long-time developer established a confusing error-checking convention: storing function return values in a variable named 'error', then checking 'if (error == FALSE)' to detect failures. This inverts the typical pattern where TRUE means success. The convention has spread through the codebase by sheer mass and inertia, gradually reshaping how new developers write code rather than the other way around. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [The Second Great Error Model Convergence](https://daily.dev/posts/the-second-great-error-model-convergence-e6ligcvol) · matklad · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [The two kinds of error](https://daily.dev/posts/the-two-kinds-of-error-zsfcltzzr) · Lobsters · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Failing to Fail](https://daily.dev/posts/failing-to-fail-6kiksrplu) · The Daily WTF · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Error Codes for Control Flow](https://daily.dev/posts/error-codes-for-control-flow-m60a6pjpt) · matklad · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [When Mistakes Teach You Best](https://daily.dev/posts/when-mistakes-teach-you-best-gqcct0iup) · Code Like A Girl · 2 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#c](https://daily.dev/tags/c) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/the-error-check-q1iguhibe) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"The Error Check","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/the-error-check-q1iguhibe","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/the-error-check-q1iguhibe"},"datePublished":"2026-07-15T11:17:42.212Z","dateModified":"2026-09-13T20:28:50.959Z","description":"A developer named Stevie works in a C codebase where a long-time developer established a confusing error-checking convention: storing function return values in...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--1KxV4ohY--/f_auto/v1722860400/public/Placeholder%2007","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--1KxV4ohY--/f_auto/v1722860400/public/Placeholder%2007","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"The Daily WTF","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Daily WTF","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/d21a6aa61a7244d893a3b3284df8e2ef","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/thedailywtf"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/the-error-check-q1iguhibe","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":2},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"c","timeRequired":"PT2M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Daily WTF","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/thedailywtf"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"The Error Check"}]} ```