On 10.05.2008 00:13, Bert Freudenberg wrote: > On 09.05.2008, at 20:31, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > >> Bert, >> if you try and say that the entire world is wrong in how it writes >> software, >> > > Actually, that's exactly what I think, and "entire world" includes > yours truly ;) > But this isn't the place to talk about that (if you're curious, visit > VPRI [*]). > > No, it's not foremost about how the software is written, but about how > it is presented to the user. Unfortunately, interface design is much > harder than just writing software. >
The VPRI stuff is scary because it proposes the equivalent of using assembler code to speed up C programs. Performing model checking against one piece of code, then replacing that piece of code with another one for speed reasons in production is really a horrible plan. It also makes it obvious that the mathematically correct code is expected to be unusably slow. > [...] > For example, the fastest way for me to retrieve a file is typing it in > the system-wide search box on my machine, or into google. It doesn't > matter where in the file system hierarchy or on which server it is > stored. That is pretty much what the Journal would do, too. Also, the > Journal will allow tagging, which is equivalent (but more powerful) to > a directory hierarchy. Etc. > Actually, tags are just the equivalence of file names and they are more efficient to use than simple searches. If you know exactly what you want and where to find it, searching for it is one of the worst choices possible besides random walking and active avoidance. With Mozilla/Firefox/Seamonkey, typing in the first few letters of the URL takes you faster to an often-used site (due to autocompletion) than using any search engine. In real life, searching is a last resort if direct access is impossible. If you keep your bike at a fixed location you can remember among other bikes in a bike shed, you walk straight to your bike and don't search for it. > [*] see http://vpri.org/html/work/ifnct.htm > Regards, Carl-Daniel _______________________________________________ Devel mailing list [email protected] http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/devel
