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From: notes@ucbcad.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.followup
Subject: Re: Long messages -- long modules - (nf)
Message-ID: <974@ucbcad.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 4-Dec-83 13:56:30 EST
Article-I.D.: ucbcad.974
Posted: Sun Dec  4 13:56:30 1983
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#R:wxlvax:-21000:ucbesvax:3000008:000:1258
ucbesvax!turner    Dec  4 05:17:00 1983

Re: Dic Wexleblat's 1-screen meaning modules

As a frequent contributor to the most opinion-oriented newsgroups (aside
from net.religion, net.philosophy and net.cog-eng), I must agree that the
most expressive writings found there are usually the shortest.  Some writers
just express a point of view, usually with more innuendo and sarcasm than
fact, and then split.

Which leaves those who have bothered to inform themselves more fully with
the unpleasant task of either (a) filling in the blanks of an argument that
they agree with, but wish had been expressed better, or (b) arguing that the
(usually implicit) bases of the argument are largely false.  This often
requires length.  The (quite natural) bias against longer notes thus militates
against informed discussion.

It would be nice if modules in code were all 1 screen long.  It would be
nice if opinions in discussion were all 1 screen long.  But I have seldom
written a module that required less than 1 screen of debugging.  This is
not to draw some facile conclusion about 1-screen (or even 1-line) notes--
not when I have heroes like Oscar Wilde and Mark Twain.  But then, they
didn't hack--they polished.  Competent self-expression was their trade.
---
Michael Turner (ucbvax!ucbesvax.turner)