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I just love the dichotomy on HN where you get one article: “The Future of Software Is No Code” and another “Why it took a long time to build the tiny link previ

by tylfin 8y ago

I just love the dichotomy on HN where you get one article: “The Future of Software Is No Code” and another “Why it took a long time to build the tiny link preview on Wikipedia,” these two are seemingly orthogonal in my mind.

fh973 8y ago
I think orthogonal (at least from its usage in math-related contexts) means the two don't have anything to do with each other.
- taoistextremist 8y ago
  Nah, that would be skew. Orthogonal crosses but goes in a different direction.
  - zinclozenge 8y ago
    Except you can have orthogonal vectors that don't intersect.
  - cliffy 8y ago
    Orthogonal is frequently used to mean two (or more) things are independent of one another. I have never heard skew used in that way.
    - karatinversion 8y ago
      Yes, the poster above has assumed the meaning of 'orthogonal' from its etymology, but the use he criticises comes from statistics (https://stats.stackexchange.com/questions/12128/what-does-orthogonal-mean-in-the-context-of-statistics https://stats.stackexchange.com/questions/12128/what-does-or...)
    - 0x445442 8y ago
      I believe in the, quite common, context just used it's meant as non-parallel. Or the two ideas don't track at all.
    - taoistextremist 8y ago
      Yeah, but they were saying in math related contexts, in which orthogonal is almost equivalent to perpendicular.
      - vishnugupta 8y ago
        I believe even in the context of mathematics orthogonal means independence. I.e., one can move along x and y axis without having y or x value being changed. However if you move along any line that's not parallel to x or y axis then both x and y value change simultaneously. That's how I interpret orthogonality in the context of math anyway.
        Maybestring 8y ago
        >However if you move along any line that's not parallel to x or y axis then both x and y value change simultaneously. A third orthogonal axis is neither parallel to x and y, nor do x and y vary as you move along it. Replace parallel with linearly indepent, and you are spot on.
        romwell 8y ago
        No need to replace anything; the implicit assumption is a 2D space.
        Maybestring 8y ago
        Then you can only talk about two concepts. I would like to be able to say, intelligence, morality, and obesity are mutually orthogonal. If your model is 2D, then you are requiring a relationship between at least two of them.
        romwell 8y ago
        The example was in 2D. The reader is able to generalize from there, we hope, no? :)
Eridrus 8y ago
The real reason it took so long was buried in the comments: the community was unwilling to accept a sub-par solution at all. And if your requirements are very steep, you're probably not going to get away from code, but if your goal is to build something quickly and make a few compromises, then maybe No-Code approaches are for you.
recursive 8y ago
Not orthoganal, I'd say. They're diametrically opposed. I want the no-code thing to work. I just don't think it's going to.

by tylfin 8y ago

fh973 8y ago

I think orthogonal (at least from its usage in math-related contexts) means the two don't have anything to do with each other.

taoistextremist 8y ago
Nah, that would be skew. Orthogonal crosses but goes in a different direction.
- zinclozenge 8y ago
  Except you can have orthogonal vectors that don't intersect.
- cliffy 8y ago
  Orthogonal is frequently used to mean two (or more) things are independent of one another. I have never heard skew used in that way.
  - karatinversion 8y ago
    Yes, the poster above has assumed the meaning of 'orthogonal' from its etymology, but the use he criticises comes from statistics (https://stats.stackexchange.com/questions/12128/what-does-orthogonal-mean-in-the-context-of-statistics https://stats.stackexchange.com/questions/12128/what-does-or...)
  - 0x445442 8y ago
    I believe in the, quite common, context just used it's meant as non-parallel. Or the two ideas don't track at all.
  - taoistextremist 8y ago
    Yeah, but they were saying in math related contexts, in which orthogonal is almost equivalent to perpendicular.
    - vishnugupta 8y ago
      I believe even in the context of mathematics orthogonal means independence. I.e., one can move along x and y axis without having y or x value being changed. However if you move along any line that's not parallel to x or y axis then both x and y value change simultaneously. That's how I interpret orthogonality in the context of math anyway.
      - Maybestring 8y ago
        >However if you move along any line that's not parallel to x or y axis then both x and y value change simultaneously. A third orthogonal axis is neither parallel to x and y, nor do x and y vary as you move along it. Replace parallel with linearly indepent, and you are spot on.
        romwell 8y ago
        No need to replace anything; the implicit assumption is a 2D space.
        Maybestring 8y ago
        Then you can only talk about two concepts. I would like to be able to say, intelligence, morality, and obesity are mutually orthogonal. If your model is 2D, then you are requiring a relationship between at least two of them.
        romwell 8y ago
        The example was in 2D. The reader is able to generalize from there, we hope, no? :)

Eridrus 8y ago

The real reason it took so long was buried in the comments: the community was unwilling to accept a sub-par solution at all. And if your requirements are very steep, you're probably not going to get away from code, but if your goal is to build something quickly and make a few compromises, then maybe No-Code approaches are for you.

recursive 8y ago

Not orthoganal, I'd say. They're diametrically opposed. I want the no-code thing to work. I just don't think it's going to.