4 ms·

Because a computer is obviously more powerful than a desk calculator (unless you happen to have a programmable calculator, which would itself be a computer.) T

by qsort 6y ago

Because a computer is obviously more powerful than a desk calculator (unless you happen to have a programmable calculator, which would itself be a computer.) Transposing the metaphor of a desk calculator verbatim is inefficient and unproductive, graphical gimmick exclusively. Unix bc, which predates Windows calculator by a couple decades, is Turing-complete and in fact close to a full-featured modern dynamic language. Today's equivalent would be a {python|ruby|node|perl} REPL.

ak217 6y ago
The UX of a REPL sucks if you're not an expert. A calculator UI gives you a lot more guidance about what's available. Accessibility is everything. I would guess the skeuomorphic calculator apps have 5 orders of magnitude more users than bc, and 4 more than the REPLs (not that the REPLs were even built for this purpose). I think they will evolve over time away from skeuomorphism, but not into anything resembling a plain REPL.
- qsort 6y ago
  Excel has the same accessibility as a calculator UI. I'll have that, in a smaller window :) Also, the UX of a REPL sucks because it lives in a white-on-black terminal and prints scary version messages about a thing called "clang". Do the same thing with nice colors and friendly messages and I doubt the usability would be any worse.
  - ak217 6y ago
    This is precisely what I'm trying to illustrate. No, Excel does not have the same accessibility as a calculator UI. Excel is somewhere in between a calculator UI and bc in terms of how discoverable and usable it is. Engineers fall into this trap a lot - projecting our own preferences onto what we think other people should find accessible. Most people require training before they can use Excel. The training required to use a calculator is so minimal, they teach it in elementary school. And a REPL is gibberish to the vast majority of people, even if you dress it up with nice colors and friendly messages (which to be fair help a lot).

by qsort 6y ago

ak217 6y ago

The UX of a REPL sucks if you're not an expert. A calculator UI gives you a lot more guidance about what's available. Accessibility is everything. I would guess the skeuomorphic calculator apps have 5 orders of magnitude more users than bc, and 4 more than the REPLs (not that the REPLs were even built for this purpose). I think they will evolve over time away from skeuomorphism, but not into anything resembling a plain REPL.

qsort 6y ago
Excel has the same accessibility as a calculator UI. I'll have that, in a smaller window :) Also, the UX of a REPL sucks because it lives in a white-on-black terminal and prints scary version messages about a thing called "clang". Do the same thing with nice colors and friendly messages and I doubt the usability would be any worse.
- ak217 6y ago
  This is precisely what I'm trying to illustrate. No, Excel does not have the same accessibility as a calculator UI. Excel is somewhere in between a calculator UI and bc in terms of how discoverable and usable it is. Engineers fall into this trap a lot - projecting our own preferences onto what we think other people should find accessible. Most people require training before they can use Excel. The training required to use a calculator is so minimal, they teach it in elementary school. And a REPL is gibberish to the vast majority of people, even if you dress it up with nice colors and friendly messages (which to be fair help a lot).