Re: [kbuild-devel] Re: [2.6 patch] Kconfig: rename ---help--- to help in Kconfig files (first part)

[Robert P. J. Day]

On Tue, 3 May 2005, Bodo Eggert [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 Roman Zippel [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
  On Tue, 3 May 2005, Adrian Bunk wrote:

  IMHO, Kconfig files are quite readable due to this indentation even
  though only a minority of the entries was using ---help--- even
  before this patch.
 
  So why exactly has to be removed? Is it ugly?

 IMO yes, it's less readable for me than help. ¢¢

the main problem with having two alternatives for the same thing (in
*any* context) is that it gives beginners a distorted sense of what is
acceptable usage.

if you accept both help and ---help---, then you just *know* that
a beginner will notice that and start thinking, hmmm ... well, if
both of those are alright, maybe --help-- or -help- is alright,
too.  and maybe it's just the leading hyphens that really count, not
the trailing hyphens.  and maybe ...

kbuild is already over-convoluted as it is.  please don't give folks
even more redundant ways to do exactly the same thing.

rday

[kbuild-devel] Re: [2.6 patch] Kconfig: rename ---help--- to help in Kconfig files (first part)

[Adrian Bunk]

On Tue, May 03, 2005 at 03:47:46PM +0200, Roman Zippel wrote:

 Hi,

Hi Roman,

 On Tue, 3 May 2005, Adrian Bunk wrote:
 
   So why exactly has to be removed? Is it ugly? Does it make Kconfig worse?
  
  The ugly thing is that there are currently two different ways to express 
  the same thing. It only causes confusion for people who think those 
  different syntaxes had a different meaning.
 
 Languages often have more than one way to express something, this is not 
 different.
 Early on there was some confusion about this from people writing new 
 Kconfig entries (not just reading existing ones), but this was became a 
 non-issue since it's documented now.
...

Different ways for expressing the same thing is good for writers but bad 
for readers.

E.g. where to place opening braces in C is a religious issue. For the 
Linux kernel, CodingStyle sets the rules. And although I'd prefer to set 
them different, I have to admit that the consistency indide the kernel 
makes reading easier.

 bye, Roman

cu
Adrian

-- 

   Is there not promise of rain? Ling Tan asked suddenly out
of the darkness. There had been need of rain for many days.
   Only a promise, Lao Er said.
   Pearl S. Buck - Dragon Seed



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