Deep Email Validator
Dev tools
email validation library
SHOW HN2020
How HN took it
3 positive, 8 neutral or asking, 0 mixed, 10 critical, out of 21 comments about the project. Thread score -0.37.
Execution: 2 for, 5 againstIdea: 1 for, 5 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Naive regex catches most syntax problems cheaply
From 1 comment
OTOH, that code looks as if it'll find the vast majority of the problems more careful analysis could find, both simply and without bad consequences. All that happens if that…
Arnt on HN
Immediate feedback on typos is good UX
From 1 comment
It is good UX to let user immediately know if they enter a typo or an e-mail that is bound to fail. It is a real waste of time if user enters wrong e-mail and keeps refreshing…
mewpmewp2 on HN
Objections
Email validation is unnecessary; verify by sending mail instead
From 2 comments
For most applications email validation is really not nesecarry. instead a service can rely on email verification. If the address is invalid, mails sent to it will never arrive at…
madsbuch on HNThere is exactly one right way to validate an email: send a message to it. Email is a very old protocol with a lot of hacks and backwards compatibility. At this point, pretty…
jedberg on HN
Checking MX alone is wrong; RFC 5321 falls back to A/AAAA records
From 2 comments
Presence of an MX record should _not_ be used as a litmus test for a valid email domain. RFC 5321 section 5 specifies that you lookup the MX and, if absent, use the A/AAAA…
runlevel1 on HNIf an MX record isn't present you can fall back on the A-record. (If, and only if, no MX record for the domain is present, treat the domain as if it had an MX record with the…
stevekemp on HN
SMTP checks can break on catch-all or aliased addresses
From 2 comments
Hopefully this doesn't get used in some kind of registration flow in full since for example if you register with an aliased address, or you have a catchall address or email is…
sdfhbdf on HNI bet this would fail on my catch all email since it checks if the mailbox exists, right?
that_guy_iain on HN
Rejects valid but unusual addresses such as dotless domains and IPv6 literals
From 2 comments
The first line mentions: > Validates email looks like an email i.e. contains an "@" and a "." to the right of it. But what about emails coming from a hostname without a dot, or a…
nickjj on HNfoo@2001::01 is a valid email address, no? So is using the alternative dotless representation of the IPv4 addresses.
IgorPartola on HN
Requests
Describe it as an address validator rather than email validator
From 1 comment
You might save a little bit of confusion by calling it an email "address" validator.
bo1024 on HN
Support disposable email addresses rather than blocking them
From 1 comment
I'm not a big fan of denying disposable email services. For that reason, I'll pass.
293984j29384 on HN
Questions
How does it handle timeouts?
From 1 comment
How does it handle timeouts?
ketamine__ on HN
Will it fail on catch-all mailboxes?
From 1 comment
I bet this would fail on my catch all email since it checks if the mailbox exists, right?
that_guy_iain on HN
Alternatives named
Email verification services that send a confirmation message
From 1 comment
For most applications email validation is really not nesecarry. instead a service can rely on email verification. If the address is invalid, mails sent to it will never arrive at…
madsbuch on HN