Kolf: Rumours of its death have been much exaggerated

[Michael Pyne]

On Sunday 05 July 2009 22:16:57 Ian Wadham wrote:
> On Mon, 6 Jul 2009 8:29:00 am Stefan Majewsky wrote:
> > Am Sonntag 05 Juli 2009 21:24:30 schrieb Michael Pyne:
> > > I'm assuming the API docs didn't mention that the list would be sorted?
> > > Unless that was the case it's definitely an application bug, no one
> > > should ever expect a list to be sorted in any fashion unless the API
> > > documentation states so.
>
> True, the API docs do not mention that and true, the application writer
> should not expect such a thing.  The problem, from an application
> writer's point of view, is that some KDE doco is so brief that you have
> to guess what the library does or conduct an experiment in your code.
>
> The trap you fall into then is that you cannot distinguish easily between
> a feature and a side-effect.  Worse still, if the doco is not good, you may
> completely miss finding and using a valuable feature.

Oh don't get me wrong, I understand and agree completely with having to make 
assumptions with poor API documentation.

My real point is only that you shouldn't allow yourself to be lulled into 
assuming an >ordering< for a container unless it's spelled out, even if it 
does happen to usually end up sorted in practice.

> I am now retired and claim to be KDE's oldest developer, at age 71 ... :-)

Wow.  I'm hoping I'll still be able to see at age 71 and you're fixing show-
stopping bugs. Bravo. :)

Regards,
 - Michael Pyne
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