Don't amputate numberFormat (was: affecting array keys???)

[Curry Kenworthy]

Richard:

 > With format(), you put something in and get something
 > else out in one statement.

 > With numberFormat, you first change an abstraction in
 > the engine, then do something to a value elsewhere,
 > and if you remembered to do it in the right order,
 > and within a single handler, you'll get what you were
 > looking for.

Ha ha, and that's precisely what I love about it, in addition to the 
intuitive representation and the great syntax!

In other words, the property acts a lot like a setting. Plenty of those 
in LiveCode. That's also intuitive, efficient the way I use them, and 
something that relates well to human experience, very easy to teach and 
learn. That's a strength in my book.

I forgot to add before that numberFormat seems to have the advantage on 
data type awareness. When you don't know about it, it works anyway, 
using the default when you concatenate. When you desire a different 
result and gain awareness, you can set it, and your concatenation code 
stays the same.

With format, you must have awareness from the start. Otherwise you're 
just concatenating stuff, and then the default has to cover for you. We 
could call that a tie, but I look at two other points. The default 
superficially looks like the way numberFormat works (the syntax is just 
concatenating with no functions) and LiveCode must have that built in 
anyway, unless it throws an error. Then you must change your 
concatenation code to include the function.

Bottom line is the "0.0" representation is just too intuitive to beat. 
Cognitive load theory or not, mark my words, that representation is 
going to blow away the competition in learning. That's obvious by being 
so much closer in form to the desired result. The closer things are, 
generally the less work required to bridge them. You can give it fancy 
names, but the underlying math will hold true regardless.

Using the property like a setting is an added plus, appealing and 
intuitive for many (I'd venture to guess most) people. Some others may 
prefer format. For them, it's there to use and no one is advocating that 
it be removed or deprecated. And even if a new property were added to 
control field display, it would probably act a lot like numberFormat.

But even that wouldn't replace the need for numberFormat itself. I think 
there are so many better priorities for LiveCode's "surgeons" than 
attacking the healthy tissue. There are still LC 8/9 bugs and so on that 
need attention, and having to intervene on behalf of this feature takes 
away a lot time from submitting those bug reports and maybe doing some 
promotions and such. This is one of the good parts of LiveCode! I hope 
people don't get dazzled by trends or self-destructive. I've seen that 
happen before. Good feature, realize the value of what you have and hang 
on to it.

Best wishes,

"Uber-Mega-Doctor" Curry Kenworthy
(Richmond, my check is in the mail! Don't be stingy with the gold lettering)

Custom Software Development
LiveCode Training and Consulting
http://curryk.com/consulting/