This is peak programmer humor right here. The cake says "Happy 17th Birthday" but there are only 8 candles. Why? Because 17 in decimal (base-10) equals 10001 in binary (base-2), which has exactly 5 digits. Someone actually bothered to light only the 1st and 5th candles (reading right to left) to represent the binary digits. The other candles remain unlit to represent zeros. So yes, technically there ARE 17 candles on this cake... if you're fluent in binary.
Whoever made this cake deserves a promotion to Senior Cake Engineer.