On Mon, 25 Apr 2011 09:47:32 -0400, Steve Schveighoffer
<[email protected]> wrote:
----- Original Message -----
From: Robert Jacques <[email protected]>
To: Steve Schveighoffer <[email protected]>; Discuss the phobos
library for D <[email protected]>
Cc:
Sent: Saturday, April 23, 2011 1:42 PM
Subject: Re: [phobos] Time to get ready for the next release
On Fri, 22 Apr 2011 15:26:51 -0400, Steve Schveighoffer
<[email protected]> wrote:
[snip]
Another analogy I like to draw upon is casing. What if D's casing was
insensitive? That is, ReadValue is the same thing as readValue and
readvalue .There are probably many people who would love to always use
their learned
conventions for calling your code (e.g. I always make methods upper
case), but
then someone comes along and types in reAdvalue (my super-uncreative
brain
can't come up with a clever example to show something worse, but you
get the
idea). The name is the same, but the casing makes all the difference to
interpreting what it means! Like it or not, the same thing applies to
things
like:
writeln = "hello";
Even though we know this is not the right way to call it, the compiler
doesn't give an error to enforce the semantics.
The user is aways right. As a library designer, the user is your
customer. And
if they discover a new (and meaningful to them) way to use your code,
take it as
a chance to iterate in a new feature (or improve the design if it's a
bug).
It's impossible to improve the design when the compiler doesn't let you
enforce your design!
And no, the user is not always right. That's why we have the compiler
to tell them so ;)
Having D enforce your design, can not _ever_ improve a design. Every
single time DMD rapts the user's knuckles enforcing your design, it is an
instance where your design failed. It is a safety net. Nothing more.
Have a safety net is important, but the more it extends out beyond the
concrete of invalid and meaningless code, the more it encourages mediocre
design. And any fall into the safety net still hurts.
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