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I think that this uses a very specific model which can be represented with railroads, but also any other 1-way system. For example, you could say it's like hang
by jgtrosh 8y ago
I think that this uses a very specific model which can be represented with railroads, but also any other 1-way system. For example, you could say it's like hanging from a glider where you travel in a happy path, or can fall down at any point and keep travelling on foot on a failure path. This analogy is not much better but I feel like there's a better analogy out there than railroads.
- lmm 8y agoWhat railroads evoke is that there's a very limited number of paths you can take. A glider calls to mind just the opposite - complete freedom in where you fly to.
- m_mueller 8y agoIMO the railway analogy works well, because it describes the right dimensionality. It's sort of a 1.5D problem with a directed graph, with a chain of events plus a fallback chain. A railway captures that perfectly while giving people a clear picture they can understand, assuming they imagine a train that can only move in one direction and decides its path based on switches on the track. With something like a glider you could ask questions like "but what if it flies off to the East" or "what about vertical air movements that carry it up or down" and so on...
- jgtrosh 8y agoI agree that's a problem with the glider image, but that's the issue I had with railroads as well—there's much more freedom than what is shown here; railroads can go multiple ways, join in various orders etc. What I mean is one line change in a given direction does not imply subsequent ones will be in the same.