Make documentation in such a way that programmers which have already your API's before (or similar ones) don't have to read the whole manpage/docpage for a given function in order to know some detail.
This might involve some redundancy, but I prefer it that way. For example, the good linux manpages are usually separated by sections (description, return values, etc). If I'm already familiar with, say, the recv call, I don't want to read through the whole manpage in order to know what the function returns when the remote host has shutdown the connection. I simply go to the "return values" section and everything is possibly repeated there.
And the most important - don't let your documentation rot as the API is updated...
OK, here's a link to an old post I made, which comments point by point on the reasons that apple gives for users to switch to Mac computers. I know I'll get modded down for this (isn't it great to say this?), but here it goes:
Does anyone remember this quote from Linus Torvald's first announcement of his pet project "Linux"?
I can (well, almost) hear you asking yourselves "why?". Hurd will be out in a year (or two, or next month, who knows), and I've already got minix. This is a program for hackers by a hacker. I've enjouyed doing it, and somebody might enjoy looking at it and even modifying it for their own needs. It is still small enough to understand, use and modify, and I'm looking forward to any comments you might have.
Deploying Firefox or any other program is easy with things such as Ghost Install (or a similar name which I don't recall), they do it on my university... But managing is another matter...
I agree, the flaws and annoyances that I talked about were things such as popups (although I've heard that IE on XP SP2 already blocks popups - well? I don't know because I use win2k) and spyware.
But I'm not quite sure that Firefox will continue to grow much after the next version of windows... We'll see:)
There could be a slight slant in favor of Firefox though, because of the people who use msn search because, well, it's what they get when they start up IE by default...
I mostly agree with your post, except in one point - people may not know much about security flaws, but many DO know about things like spyware getting installed through the browser, and that is a reason for many people to change, even if they need a little help and hints from knowledgeable people (us). Once you tell them that firefox protects them from spyware (of which the most annoying visible effect is the appearence of the dreaded popups), they're usually eager to switch away from IE.
I think it could, and I also think it will be easy for Microsoft to stop firefox growth. They only have to ameliorate IE enough for people not to care about installing and using another browser. The only reason firefox is growing is because IE is flawed and annoying in several ways, so if a part of Microsoft's army of programmers is directed to remove that factor, firefox's growth will decrease greatly, in my opinion.
Then again, there may be some major annoyances that they won't be able to remove for compatibility reasons, such as ActiveX (which as you know is responsible for much of the spyware problem). What people should do is get rid of features like that completely, so that IE can be a secure browser...
Actually I don't believe that will happen. Have you ever read an interview with the people who make decisions about the google interface? Do you know their philosophies? If you don't, you were just talking randomly. If you do, you assumed they would change completely. I don't think that will happen, and I hope it won't...
I could only really understand C when I reached 14. Maybe it was the book's fault, it started explaining C by talking about preprocessor. I would read about terms like "macros" and I wouldn't get what the #define's mean because of that...
At that age I could only do some basic, because I had the hobby of typing up basic programs from a book when I learned to read... Oh the memories, I could go on forever:)
Slashdot Mirror
His mother became his wife? Or his cook became his wife?
Make documentation in such a way that programmers which have already your API's before (or similar ones) don't have to read the whole manpage/docpage for a given function in order to know some detail.
This might involve some redundancy, but I prefer it that way. For example, the good linux manpages are usually separated by sections (description, return values, etc). If I'm already familiar with, say, the recv call, I don't want to read through the whole manpage in order to know what the function returns when the remote host has shutdown the connection. I simply go to the "return values" section and everything is possibly repeated there.
And the most important - don't let your documentation rot as the API is updated...
Sorry for my ignorance, but where did this kind of posts originate?
Interesting theory on why this story is here:
0 997&cid=11815179
http://interviews.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=14
This is from the past story which announced that this interview would be done.
OK, here's a link to an old post I made, which comments point by point on the reasons that apple gives for users to switch to Mac computers. I know I'll get modded down for this (isn't it great to say this?), but here it goes:
= 11517342
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=137713&cid
OK. Please deposit your slashdot fee right away...
OK, here's the standard reply to this obvious troll: some concepts which are obscure now will be the basis for future developments in many sciences.
Now you can mod him down...
There are loads of people with lame sigs like that one :)
Yes, unless google is mistaken...
I bet that many dogs have already sniffed Uranus...
Who said he had to take the lawyer to the company?
This was in 1991...
Deploying Firefox or any other program is easy with things such as Ghost Install (or a similar name which I don't recall), they do it on my university... But managing is another matter...
I agree, the flaws and annoyances that I talked about were things such as popups (although I've heard that IE on XP SP2 already blocks popups - well? I don't know because I use win2k) and spyware.
:)
But I'm not quite sure that Firefox will continue to grow much after the next version of windows... We'll see
There could be a slight slant in favor of Firefox though, because of the people who use msn search because, well, it's what they get when they start up IE by default...
I mostly agree with your post, except in one point - people may not know much about security flaws, but many DO know about things like spyware getting installed through the browser, and that is a reason for many people to change, even if they need a little help and hints from knowledgeable people (us). Once you tell them that firefox protects them from spyware (of which the most annoying visible effect is the appearence of the dreaded popups), they're usually eager to switch away from IE.
I think it could, and I also think it will be easy for Microsoft to stop firefox growth. They only have to ameliorate IE enough for people not to care about installing and using another browser. The only reason firefox is growing is because IE is flawed and annoying in several ways, so if a part of Microsoft's army of programmers is directed to remove that factor, firefox's growth will decrease greatly, in my opinion.
Then again, there may be some major annoyances that they won't be able to remove for compatibility reasons, such as ActiveX (which as you know is responsible for much of the spyware problem). What people should do is get rid of features like that completely, so that IE can be a secure browser...
Are you sure?
But did you know C? C# is much more difficult than VB, in most aspects...
I think most people will care about/understand that information as much as they care about site certificates - nothing.
No it isn't! Think about it ;)
Actually I don't believe that will happen. Have you ever read an interview with the people who make decisions about the google interface? Do you know their philosophies? If you don't, you were just talking randomly. If you do, you assumed they would change completely. I don't think that will happen, and I hope it won't...
Not metatrolling, troll-bashing :)
Yeah, I guess they can always just blame the slowness on the bad quality of people's electric installations :)
I could only really understand C when I reached 14. Maybe it was the book's fault, it started explaining C by talking about preprocessor. I would read about terms like "macros" and I wouldn't get what the #define's mean because of that...
:)
At that age I could only do some basic, because I had the hobby of typing up basic programs from a book when I learned to read... Oh the memories, I could go on forever