29 ms·

JSON/XML quickly stop being alternatives as soon as you need any sort of index, a memory-mapped/on-disk data structure that doesn't have to be loaded into memor

by ak217 6y ago

JSON/XML quickly stop being alternatives as soon as you need any sort of index, a memory-mapped/on-disk data structure that doesn't have to be loaded into memory, transactional or even just incremental writes. ZIP is not even directly comparable.

tonyedgecombe 6y ago
That's not normally what you need for an application format though is it.
- rini17 6y ago
  It's becoming normal, as users coming from phones aren't trained to use "save" function and expect every individual change to persist. I actually consider that a good thing. Doing everything in volatile memory until user asks otherwise is a relic from diskette era.
  - em500 6y ago
    It's not limited to phone users. I've been using computers since the 1980s (C64), and I appreciate not needing to habitually keep pressing "save" every few seconds in Google Docs or macOS Notes.
  - ymbeld 6y ago
    It’s bad enough to have to keep pressing Save manually, but I also have to do it regularly while using LibreOffice Calc since it keeps crashing. :-)
  - wheybags 6y ago
    #1 best jetbrains idea feature IMO - save on focus lost. Just alt tab into your app, or into your terminal to git commit, no worrying about "did I remember to ctrl-s".
    - mmcdermott 6y ago
      I grew up in the Win 3.1-Win 98 era. I don't think the save reflex will ever quite go away. :)
      - wtetzner 6y ago
        Sometimes when I'm working on paper I reach for ctrl+s out of reflex ;)
  - folmar 6y ago
    It is a nuisance unless you have undo that is persistent. Phone-app likes have barely any undo. For example: cut some content from a file to paste it somewhere else. Now the program saves and system crashes.
- dragonwriter 6y ago
  > That’s not normally what you need for an application format though is it. Well, it depends what you mean by “need”. But continuous, incremental updates generally provide a much better user experience, either instead of or in addition to active “save” actions. So, yeah, I think its exactly something that is commonly desirable in a file format for maintaining application state, even if there is a different interchange format that the application produces/consumes as a static input or output.

by ak217 6y ago

tonyedgecombe 6y ago

That's not normally what you need for an application format though is it.

rini17 6y ago
It's becoming normal, as users coming from phones aren't trained to use "save" function and expect every individual change to persist. I actually consider that a good thing. Doing everything in volatile memory until user asks otherwise is a relic from diskette era.
- em500 6y ago
  It's not limited to phone users. I've been using computers since the 1980s (C64), and I appreciate not needing to habitually keep pressing "save" every few seconds in Google Docs or macOS Notes.
- ymbeld 6y ago
  It’s bad enough to have to keep pressing Save manually, but I also have to do it regularly while using LibreOffice Calc since it keeps crashing. :-)
- wheybags 6y ago
  #1 best jetbrains idea feature IMO - save on focus lost. Just alt tab into your app, or into your terminal to git commit, no worrying about "did I remember to ctrl-s".
  - mmcdermott 6y ago
    I grew up in the Win 3.1-Win 98 era. I don't think the save reflex will ever quite go away. :)
    - wtetzner 6y ago
      Sometimes when I'm working on paper I reach for ctrl+s out of reflex ;)
- folmar 6y ago
  It is a nuisance unless you have undo that is persistent. Phone-app likes have barely any undo. For example: cut some content from a file to paste it somewhere else. Now the program saves and system crashes.
dragonwriter 6y ago
> That’s not normally what you need for an application format though is it. Well, it depends what you mean by “need”. But continuous, incremental updates generally provide a much better user experience, either instead of or in addition to active “save” actions. So, yeah, I think its exactly something that is commonly desirable in a file format for maintaining application state, even if there is a different interchange format that the application produces/consumes as a static input or output.