On: How many x86 instructions are there? (2016)

[wglb]

If you are writing a disassembler or binary program decoder, such a number will help you be sure that you enumerate all the instructions.

[ketralnis → wglb]

I doubt most people reading the article coming from HN are writing disassemblers, and all such people would have to read it anyway because the number itself isn't sufficient to validate that you've enumerated all of them (because as my sibling points out, it's more complicated than that). The specific number is the least interesting part.

[account4mypc → wglb]

i think if you were writing such a program, this article would show that using such a number is a much more complicated idea than it sounds

[Out_of_Characte → account4mypc]

Enumerating all instructions would be usefull to check wether you can decode all legal instructions.

[saagarjha → Out_of_Characte]

The issue is that the list of all legal instructions is hard to define.