Lies We Tell Ourselves About Email Addresses
Summary
Lies We Tell Ourselves About Email Addresses is a detailed, humorous examination of common assumptions around email addresses. It argues against using regex for validation, explains RFCs and real-world divergences in email infrastructure, and highlights edge cases such as international characters, subaddressing, DNS nuances, and address literals. The post culminates in practical guidance: validate lightly, verify addresses via email, and use proper storage comparisons (like citext or appropriate collations) rather than brute-force regex. The piece blends technical explanations with real-world anecdotes and actionable recommendations for developers.