Graham Reitz wrote:
>
> Wow man, there is no reason for this.
I think you're misreading the tone of the message, an easy thing to do
over a text medium. It should be read as a strong, calm argument.
(That's "argument" as in making a reasoned point, not "argument" as in
"being a pugnacious ass". :) )
> You're obviously upset about something other than 'just' my comments.
I don't know about "upset", but yes, in your newbiness, you are a bit of
a bull in a china shop just now. Anyone who's been here a while could
have predicted immediate rejection for some of your suggestions. The
fact that you made them anyway demonstrates an insensitivity to the way
things are done here, which doesn't help your case.
It's common practice to lurk on a list for a while before offering
suggestions, to avoid problems like this.
> I hope that whatever is going on in your life improves.
Actually, my life is fine right now, but thanks for your concern.
> I think we would both agree that comments like, "Your library
> sux," is completely inappropriate and definitely not constructive, but
> that didn't happen here.
Didn't say it did. In "X sux", X == "MYSQLPP_SSQLS_NO_STATICS" and
suchlike, not "MySQL++".
Study the "eyeball" thread. There are many criticisms of my code in it,
most of which caused me no distress at all, including almost all of the
ones I disagreed with.
The only one that really agitated me is the guy pointing out that the
template is not thread-safe (fine) and saying this is "wrong" (not
fine). It is not wrong. It is simply a design choice. If he'd said
"you could make it thread-safe by making the refcount inc/dec operations
atomic", that would have been fine. It would be a logical argument,
offered as a choice, with the "right" answer depending on context. I
still would have disagreed with it, because I think the context where it
makes sense is unrealistic, but I wouldn't have been upset about it.
Condemning something as "wrong" when in fact it's a choice from a set of
valid alternatives is an "X sux" sort of argument.
There are no absolutes in design. That's what makes it design and not
engineering. To properly criticize a design, you have to start from the
premise that the current design was motivated by rational choices that
make sense in some context, even if you can't see it. You can then
offer an alternative which may make more sense in a different context.
Then the designer just has to choose between your new alternative and
the status quo, possibly with the question of which context is more
common thrown into the mix. This avoids the attack on the designer's ego.
If I didn't have an ego, it couldn't get bruised, and there would be no
need for all this circumlocution. But if wishes were changes, I could
have a pony, too.
I am reminded of my response to your "50 columns" thread. I was
implicitly criticizing your design, but in the very way I'm recommending
here. I said I didn't understand it, and asked you to give me context
to understand it. Even after two unanswered challenges, I'm still open
to the possibility that you could show me that context and that I'd be
converted in my thinking. This is why I didn't say "there is no valid
reason to have 50 columns in a table". I have a strong opinion that
valid reasons for such a design are hard to come by, but I haven't ruled
out the possibility that you have such a reason.
Do you see the practical difference between these approaches?
