>>>>> "G" == GregLondon  <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:

  G> perl Golf judging entails reading in a script 
  G> and running it through some pre-determined 
  G> algorithm to come up with a score.
  G> shortest count wins, reflecting the script 
  G> with the shortest code length.

  G> perl Style judging entails reading in a script
  G> and running it through some pre-determined 
  G> algorithm to come up with a score.
  G> lowest score wins, reflecting the script 
  G> with the best coding Style.


the problem is the algorithm. i can write the same exact code with
different names for vars, subs, etc. and one will be very readable in
english and the other in (say) french. which is better? 

  G> there is no judging of the judges,
  G> the script is predetermined in both cases.

and the rules for coding style are always subjective. golf scoring is
objective as length is can't be judged differently by different
people. that is the difference between objective and subjective
judging. compare the 100M dash to gymnastics. same for perl golf and
coding styles.

  G> You've got three factors to play with:
  G> size, speed, and quality

  G> you can pick any two.

you can actually get all three in rare cases. :)

  G> it's ALL subjective, by the way.
  G> size, speed, and quality are ALL made up,
  G> subjective terms. its just that 
  G> size and speed map much more easily
  G> into objectively measured metrics.

no, size and speed can be directly compared to other
programs. length and benchmarks are the same for each person running
them so they are subjective. quality is subjective unless you can come
up with metrics for it. in some products that can be done but not many
and it is very hard to quantify quality in software.

  G> mapping "quality" into a objective measure would be difficult, but
  G> would then make it easier for programmers to evaluate where there
  G> script is in the speed/size/quality triangle.

that is the whole issue. you can't come up with quality metrics nearly
as easily as you can for the other two factors. so golf is nice since
you can tell who wins without trouble.

uri

-- 
Uri Guttman  ------  [EMAIL PROTECTED]  -------- http://www.stemsystems.com
----- Stem and Perl Development, Systems Architecture, Design and Coding ----
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