[PD] Re: namecanvas

[Derek Holzer]

Hmmm....funny, they just had a big discussion on the SuperCollider list 
about whether or not more "Windows-like" sanity checks to save the 
application from programmers who don't know how to program was 
necessary. Usually such "fool-proofing" kinds of checks come at an added 
expense in terms of CPU overhead. Some people went on the side of 
"people should read the manual and know what they are doing", and some 
thought the application should work harder to save them from themselves, 
and they were ready to accept a certain decrease in efficiency to do so.

It is worthwhile not to forget that PD is a programming language, and 
that it is used to write applications. So erroneous input from the 
programmer is perfectly capable of crashing without recovery...i.e. 
patch author=programmer, not end-user. In my own little chunk of 
reality, if you author a patch that is tested for all versions of PD and 
all OSes, then it is your responsibility to make sure it is robust 
enough to withstand "stupid user tricks". But that's what makes PD so 
damed fun, innit?

my two-euro-bits,
d.

Matteo Sisti Sette wrote:
> F. Barknecht wrote
>> Well, that's an error of the patch-author.
> 
> Well, whenever a program crashes and can't recover (that is, it forces the 
> operating system to close it), it is ALWAYS a bug of the program (unless it 
> is of the operating system of course) no matter how erroneous the input from 
> the user (i.e. the patch author).


-- 
derek holzer ::: http://www.umatic.nl
---Oblique Strategy # 51:
"Distorting time"