A 213 student's guide to the subtle distinction between yaoi and bl
If you've taken one of the many Intro to Computer Systems courses (15/18-x13, or 213 for short), you've likely encountered a little thing we in the community call "bl" for short. You've probably also encountered yaoi. Some people argue these are the same thing, while others argue they're completely different, and yet more insist on nuanced and overlapping definitions. This article aims to set the record straight.
Let's start with the structure of 213. There are two weekly lectures and a weekly recitation. Lecture attendance is ungraded. A weekly quiz-style homework makes up a small percentage of the grade and a midterm and final make up more significant portions of it. But perhaps the most critical type of assignment is its numerous infamous labs. Just their names alone will send shivers down the spine of every prospective Hewlett-Packard applicant. Attack lab. Cache lab. And of course, malloc lab.
Saying the full name of the labs gets tiresome, so we started abbreviating them some time in the mid2000s. Instead of malloc lab, just say ml. Instead of data lab, just say dl. If you're bad at using bitwise binary operators and your lab grade is irrevocably fucked, you might say you're "fucking on the dl." But no abbreviation is used as often as "bl," short for bomb lab.
The other abbreviation you'll hear for bomb lab originates from 213's interesting relationship with systems courses at other universities. Many of the labs were designed only as a base which professors worldwide could adapt and build off of. The original bomb lab was much different from the one used at CMU today, leading to its more old-fashioned nickname: Yet Another Opaque Interactable, or "yaoi."
Thus, from this brief history, you can see that yaoi is a specific subset of bl. All yaoi is bl, but not all bl is yaoi. Neither term is more or less correct to describe the modern 213 bomb lab, but yaoi carries more specificity.
Hopefully this article provides an enlightening summary of an often-missed distinction between these terms. The 15/18-x13 community is stronger than ever, and whether you call it yaoi, bl, or just bomb lab, you're on track for a good few hours of satisfaction.