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




More information about the use-livecode mailing list