3 ms·

You know that simplicity of use is very complex to achieve, and requires complex tools behind, right? Actually it is even true for music instruments: A piano i

by gbog 13y ago

You know that simplicity of use is very complex to achieve, and requires complex tools behind, right? Actually it is even true for music instruments: A piano is very complex inside and can be played relatively easily, while a violin is much more simple in the fabric but much harder to play.

1stop 13y ago
Just go and copy bundler or even npm. This is a solved problem with a really bad case of "Not-Invented-here" in the python community. What's funny is I'm pretty sure gems/bundler and npm/packages were heavily influenced by pythons plethora of crappy attempts (eggs, distutils...etc) at package management.
- camus2 13y ago
  given how npm "scales" i would not say they solved the problem,and npm lacks of namespaces. Why cant I name my package the way I want ?
  - 1stop 13y ago
    As oppose to python "name it whatever you like because no one will ever find it" naming convention? Every solution has drawbacks, but python's solution has almost every drawback.
- acdha 13y ago
  > Just go and copy bundler or even npm. Anyone who's worked with all three of those would tell you that this isn't yet a “rest on your laurels” situation.
  - 1stop 13y ago
    I've worked with all three (if I count pythons ~4 as 1). There are improvements to be made to all of them but gosh python is a complete mess in this regard.
coldtea 13y ago
Well, a synth trumps both in complexity, but it's very easy to play, so the analogy stops there.
- gbog 13y ago
  On the contrary, a synth is the most complex instrument and the easiest to play, that's my point.
  - dTal 13y ago
    Alright then, how about a kazoo? Triangle? Or at the other end (complex AND difficult to play) a pipe organ?
    - gbog 13y ago
      I didn't mean to claim that 100% of what could be named "musical instrument" is following perfectly the pattern, I was merely illustrating that "simple interfaces often require complex system". Another illustration, in reverse: the Chinese chopsticks are among the simplest tool you can imagine, and it requires a somewhat steep learning curve, but once mastered it is really the most powerful food grabbing tool ever invented. The Chinese brush is of the same nature: extremely simple, very hard to master, and very powerful (expressive) once mastered. Just like the violin (and VIM, and git, etc.) On the other side of the spectrum you have the synth, IDEs, Google search, etc. Simple UIs, simple to learn, but internals are very complex.

by gbog 13y ago

1stop 13y ago

Just go and copy bundler or even npm. This is a solved problem with a really bad case of "Not-Invented-here" in the python community. What's funny is I'm pretty sure gems/bundler and npm/packages were heavily influenced by pythons plethora of crappy attempts (eggs, distutils...etc) at package management.

camus2 13y ago
given how npm "scales" i would not say they solved the problem,and npm lacks of namespaces. Why cant I name my package the way I want ?
- 1stop 13y ago
  As oppose to python "name it whatever you like because no one will ever find it" naming convention? Every solution has drawbacks, but python's solution has almost every drawback.
acdha 13y ago
> Just go and copy bundler or even npm. Anyone who's worked with all three of those would tell you that this isn't yet a “rest on your laurels” situation.
- 1stop 13y ago
  I've worked with all three (if I count pythons ~4 as 1). There are improvements to be made to all of them but gosh python is a complete mess in this regard.

coldtea 13y ago

Well, a synth trumps both in complexity, but it's very easy to play, so the analogy stops there.

gbog 13y ago
On the contrary, a synth is the most complex instrument and the easiest to play, that's my point.
- dTal 13y ago
  Alright then, how about a kazoo? Triangle? Or at the other end (complex AND difficult to play) a pipe organ?
  - gbog 13y ago
    I didn't mean to claim that 100% of what could be named "musical instrument" is following perfectly the pattern, I was merely illustrating that "simple interfaces often require complex system". Another illustration, in reverse: the Chinese chopsticks are among the simplest tool you can imagine, and it requires a somewhat steep learning curve, but once mastered it is really the most powerful food grabbing tool ever invented. The Chinese brush is of the same nature: extremely simple, very hard to master, and very powerful (expressive) once mastered. Just like the violin (and VIM, and git, etc.) On the other side of the spectrum you have the synth, IDEs, Google search, etc. Simple UIs, simple to learn, but internals are very complex.