Stacks whose names start with "rev"
Richard Gaskin
ambassador at fourthworld.com
Fri Sep 28 16:40:43 EDT 2018
Mark Wieder wrote:
> On 09/27/2018 03:47 PM, J. Landman Gay via use-livecode wrote:
>
>> The reason the stack name can't be changed is because the whole
>> multi-stack system uses the stack name for internal display in dozens
>> of places (glossaries, gradebooks, student notes, reading history,
>> lookups,
>
> Really really really a bad idea.
> I'm sure you knew that already, but I want to say it again.
> That's really really really a bad idea.
>
> One of the prime tenets of database design is that you shouldn't use
> actual data to link items together. Else you get into maintenance
> nightmares and things fall apart when you get unexpected data, etc.
>
> I hate to say you should rethink the design, but you should probably
> rethink the design.
I hate to say this is one of those rare times when I disagree with you,
but this is one of those rare times I disagree with you.
"There are only two hard things in Computer Science:
cache invalidation and naming things."
- Phil Karlton
Naming things has implications in many contexts across most languages.
Even well-written SQL will need to be revised if it refers to a field or
table whose name has changed.
Moreover, xTalks offer many unique benefits over other languages and
object models, among them is being able to refer to objects easily by
name. Sometimes using names that carry semantic value within the usage
context can be a good solution. The alternative would be some sort of
lookup, taking us to the first item in Karlton's list.
And most importantly, this particular instance has less to do with
generic presumed "best practice" than what appears to be just a bug in
the IDE: when it encounters stacks that it thinks are its own, even
using the prescribed method for editing the stacks doesn't work.
If setting gRevDevelopment did what it's supposed to do, she'd be able
to get back to work with no more inconvenience that seeing IDE object
names in its UI listings, and we wouldn't be having this discussion.
--
Richard Gaskin
Fourth World Systems
Software Design and Development for the Desktop, Mobile, and the Web
____________________________________________________________________
Ambassador at FourthWorld.com http://www.FourthWorld.com
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