[Hdaps-devel] Re: [ltp] IBM HDAPS Someone interested?(Userspace accelerometer viewer)

[David A. Desrosiers]

> Is your request perhaps a bit old fashioned?  This is a job for a 
> computer... it seems a bit... misaimed to ask people to change their 
> behavior over something that is so trivially in your control...

	The job of reviewing code for bugs, clarity, function... is a 
job for a human, since no computer can do that properly. Is the 
function valid, but declaring a pointer which is never freed? Is the 
code using a function which is benign and useless? 

	Consistent code formatting is a way to help people who read 
the code to understand it and find issues with it. 

	What if your favorite printed magazine started changing the 
text that normally flowed left-to-right to flow right-to-left instead, 
depending on which author wrote the article? The printing press has no 
problem with it, its just text. The words are the same, so why should 
it matter if you suddenly have to switch your reading habits from one 
way to another?

	It is for this reason, my projects carry a Coding Guidelines 
document which details exactly how I like to see the code presented. 
If the code/patch isn't in that format, I either reformat it myself, 
or I reject the patch until it complies. My project, my rules as they 
say.

> And the compiler really doesn't care.

	Just because a piece of code compiles clean, does not mean 
that the code is correct in every way. That is why there are still 
humans involved in the process of writing and building code.

> I *am* guilty of pointing out to people that HTML mail screws up 
> mail archives - makes them bigger than needed, and can screw with 
> searches.  But then, it does.

	True, but that's a different beast. The people who tell me to 
"evolve" and start accepting HTML in my email shouldn't complain when 
I send my email as a PostScript attachment instead, or perhaps a Gimp 
.xcf file of my message. 

	I prefer my webpages on port 80, not port 25, thank you ;) 


David A. Desrosiers
desrod@gnu-designs.com
http://gnu-designs.com