From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: news.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: Miles Bader Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.devel Subject: Re: base Date: Thu, 26 Aug 2010 12:27:04 +0900 Message-ID: <87eidm5a0n.fsf@catnip.gol.com> References: <20100822120642.GA1794@muc.de> <871v9o7dmf.fsf@uwakimon.sk.tsukuba.ac.jp> <87wrrg5rzg.fsf@uwakimon.sk.tsukuba.ac.jp> <87r5ho5gyr.fsf@uwakimon.sk.tsukuba.ac.jp> <87hbij6hib.fsf@uwakimon.sk.tsukuba.ac.jp> <87k4nf7ezq.fsf@catnip.gol.com> <878w3v7dd2.fsf@catnip.gol.com> <83wrrfmljv.fsf@gnu.org> <87d3t75crc.fsf@uwakimon.sk.tsukuba.ac.jp> <87fwy2g7i2.fsf@telefonica.net> <83r5hmmrz0.fsf@gnu.org> <877hjefll8.fsf@telefonica.net> <83mxsam5lh.fsf@gnu.org> NNTP-Posting-Host: lo.gmane.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Trace: dough.gmane.org 1282793248 3433 80.91.229.12 (26 Aug 2010 03:27:28 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@dough.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 26 Aug 2010 03:27:28 +0000 (UTC) To: emacs-devel@gnu.org Original-X-From: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Thu Aug 26 05:27:28 2010 Return-path: Envelope-to: ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org Original-Received: from lists.gnu.org ([199.232.76.165]) by lo.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1OoT7f-00063a-DG for ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org; Thu, 26 Aug 2010 05:27:27 +0200 Original-Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1]:59768 helo=lists.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1OoT7e-0001eX-S5 for ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org; Wed, 25 Aug 2010 23:27:26 -0400 Original-Received: from [140.186.70.92] (port=46931 helo=eggs.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1OoT7Y-0001eJ-7Y for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Wed, 25 Aug 2010 23:27:21 -0400 Original-Received: from Debian-exim by eggs.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1OoT7W-0002Vx-VP for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Wed, 25 Aug 2010 23:27:20 -0400 Original-Received: from lo.gmane.org ([80.91.229.12]:52988) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1OoT7W-0002Vr-KW for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Wed, 25 Aug 2010 23:27:18 -0400 Original-Received: from list by lo.gmane.org with local (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1OoT7S-0005uj-4p for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Thu, 26 Aug 2010 05:27:14 +0200 Original-Received: from 218.231.154.125.eo.eaccess.ne.jp ([218.231.154.125]) by main.gmane.org with esmtp (Gmexim 0.1 (Debian)) id 1AlnuQ-0007hv-00 for ; Thu, 26 Aug 2010 05:27:14 +0200 Original-Received: from miles by 218.231.154.125.eo.eaccess.ne.jp with local (Gmexim 0.1 (Debian)) id 1AlnuQ-0007hv-00 for ; Thu, 26 Aug 2010 05:27:14 +0200 X-Injected-Via-Gmane: http://gmane.org/ Original-Lines: 38 Original-X-Complaints-To: usenet@dough.gmane.org X-Gmane-NNTP-Posting-Host: 218.231.154.125.eo.eaccess.ne.jp System-Type: x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu Cancel-Lock: sha1:A4v4CqzFuhIrV0rzkjji6ScreUY= X-detected-operating-system: by eggs.gnu.org: GNU/Linux 2.6 (newer, 3) X-BeenThere: emacs-devel@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: "Emacs development discussions." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Original-Sender: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Errors-To: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Xref: news.gmane.org gmane.emacs.devel:129236 Archived-At: Eli Zaretskii writes: > That wasn't the answer I was expecting. I expected to see several > possible workflows with some analysis of their merits and demerits. > There's no need to know how a repository stores its info for that. The "list some workflows" method quickly breaks down except for extremely simple tools (which few tools are), because it would entail enumerating a huge number of possible scenarios; not only is this hard for the developer, but it's very hard for the user to remember and use beyond a certain point. A model does _not_ need to be the same as the actual implementation -- rather it's a highly efficient and usable way for the user to understand the tool. Since you said you had a degree in physics, think of it in those terms: people do lots of experiments, but people don't teach physics as a rote series of "if you do X, then Y happens" -- that would be madness. Instead, they use experiments to develop a model of how things work, which can be much more easily taught, and is much more useful once learned. Our model of physics (and of course there are multiple co-existent models representing different levels of details) necessarily "real" of course, but represents our best effort in encoding what we observe in a way that allows us to make predictions about unobserved behavior. For software of course, often the user-model can be based on the implementation (though almost always simplifying it), especially if the implementation is relatively simple and consistent. It sometimes takes a little extra effort for the user to learn a model instead of a rote list of actions, but it pays back hugely in giving the user power over his tool. -Miles -- Patience, n. A minor form of despair, disguised as a virtue.