Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!motcid!murphyn From: murphyn@motcid.UUCP (Neal P. Murphy) Newsgroups: comp.software-eng Subject: Re: Keeping programs small. Message-ID: <3369@bone13.UUCP> Date: 5 Jun 90 13:33:24 GMT References: Reply-To: motcid!murphyn@uunet.uu.net Distribution: comp Organization: Motorola Inc., Cellular Infrastructure Div., Arlington Heights, IL Lines: 25 chittamu@dino.cs.umass.edu (Satish Chittamuru) writes: : These days I find a lot of software takes up enormous amounts of memory. Most : applications on our workstations generally require about 1 to 2MB. And OS : require from 4 to 6MB. X itselfs takes another 3 to 4MB. Even some PC : software these days require more than 640 KB and have to use extended or : expanded memory. : I know memory is cheap, but wouldn't it be better to write smaller programs? : ... You may find that the "user-friendliness" of well-written software is directly proportional to its size. I.e., to write a well-written program *and* keep it small, something has to go. Usually it's the user interface that suffers. One can't very well throw out any of the logic code, and error-detection-and-correction-or- handling code must remain in place if the program is to remain well-written. Thus, the user-interface goes out the window, along with its copious amounts of textual error/informational messages. I much prefer to write a program as small as it can be made, while keeping it as user-friendly and correct as possible. It certainly won't be a minimum size, but it should be a minimal size. NPN