Tech article
Sixteen XORs and not a single if
Community description: Verbose is a small proof-carrying language whose compiler is written in itself. Its TLS 1.3 design doc claimed 'no cryptography in the host' — and its own section 7 proved that false: six computations still lived in Python. They are now six Verbose rules with zero compiler changes, including a constant-time tag comparison where sixteen XORs fold into each other and never branch. Why a plain if would leak the secret, and the oracle that settles it: a real handshake against openssl.
Dev.to | Sep 13, 2026 | arcker
Automated excerpt
Six computations were still in Python: the nonce, the authenticated header, the initial counter block, the length block, the tag, and the tag comparison. Look at the right-hand column. 12, 16, 5, 16, 16, 1. So the six computations became six rules.
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