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TechniSol · 12-15-2012, 02:10 AM

John,

A bug is something that has been implemented by design, but does not function properly. A "feature" you'd like that is not implemented, or is not implemented the way you'd like it, or think it could or should have been done is not a bug. Disappointing to you perhaps, but not a bug.

Feature creep is the biggest danger to any product because once you get past a certain point it becomes so complex, convoluted, and intertwined that debugging is nearly impossible or simply so labor intensive that it becomes impractical.

As an engineer, soft, hard, or both, you have to deal with practical limits such as memory size, code space, variable storage, other people's code(Ugh!), other features which have been assessed as having higher priority often by persons completely unsuited to make such decisions practically, etc. Little niggling details like how many pages are left in the chapter, the book, the series, the universe become a bit ridiculous to consider. Engineering can often be best expressed as the act of packing 10 lbs of foot into a 5 lb sock while still maintaining a functioning foot. Woe be unto he who taunts said foot, as he will find himself kicked twice as hard in the seat of his pants...

Yes, you're correct, it's a matter of opinion. What you're wrong about is thinking that everyone's opinion should count the same. No one ever engineered a product by democratic consensus. Well, certainly not a product worth having, making, or attaching one's career or name.

I like features too. I love cool hacks and stuff you'd never think of, but find you can't imagine living without once you've tried it. But, there must be limits.

Now, all that said, if it was my pet project I'd set things up so that touching the top half of the center of the screen while reading would bring up a dialog that showed various details about the book like the book title, chapter title, author, summary, ISBN, current page number, pages left in the chapter, time, date, etc. that was user configurable from a list of possible choices offered in a setup page. However, I'm not the guy with a 2 foot crowbar trying to open a 6 foot wide door who has to get all that crappola into working code space whilst weighing the relative merits of what other features on the working list might be better suited or more highly valued by the greatest number of consumers while trying to ignore the marketing guys who know more than the poor sucker paid to make sure the rubber hits the road, all while staying within a budget designed by wide eyed optimists who apparently figure everyone but them should work 25 hours a day, 8 days a week on minimal salary and be happy about it because the more they work, the less free time they'll have, so look at all that expensive leisure time we can save those poor peons. Yeah, been there, done that, and the things I've been tempted to do with that crowbar! 'Nuff said?

12-15-2012, 02:10 AM	#19
TechniSol GranPohbah-Fezzes r cool! Posts: 1,056 Karma: 3151024 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: Nook STRs, Kobo Touch, Kobo Glo	John, A bug is something that has been implemented by design, but does not function properly. A "feature" you'd like that is not implemented, or is not implemented the way you'd like it, or think it could or should have been done is not a bug. Disappointing to you perhaps, but not a bug. Feature creep is the biggest danger to any product because once you get past a certain point it becomes so complex, convoluted, and intertwined that debugging is nearly impossible or simply so labor intensive that it becomes impractical. As an engineer, soft, hard, or both, you have to deal with practical limits such as memory size, code space, variable storage, other people's code(Ugh!), other features which have been assessed as having higher priority often by persons completely unsuited to make such decisions practically, etc. Little niggling details like how many pages are left in the chapter, the book, the series, the universe become a bit ridiculous to consider. Engineering can often be best expressed as the act of packing 10 lbs of foot into a 5 lb sock while still maintaining a functioning foot. Woe be unto he who taunts said foot, as he will find himself kicked twice as hard in the seat of his pants... Yes, you're correct, it's a matter of opinion. What you're wrong about is thinking that everyone's opinion should count the same. No one ever engineered a product by democratic consensus. Well, certainly not a product worth having, making, or attaching one's career or name. I like features too. I love cool hacks and stuff you'd never think of, but find you can't imagine living without once you've tried it. But, there must be limits. Now, all that said, if it was my pet project I'd set things up so that touching the top half of the center of the screen while reading would bring up a dialog that showed various details about the book like the book title, chapter title, author, summary, ISBN, current page number, pages left in the chapter, time, date, etc. that was user configurable from a list of possible choices offered in a setup page. However, I'm not the guy with a 2 foot crowbar trying to open a 6 foot wide door who has to get all that crappola into working code space whilst weighing the relative merits of what other features on the working list might be better suited or more highly valued by the greatest number of consumers while trying to ignore the marketing guys who know more than the poor sucker paid to make sure the rubber hits the road, all while staying within a budget designed by wide eyed optimists who apparently figure everyone but them should work 25 hours a day, 8 days a week on minimal salary and be happy about it because the more they work, the less free time they'll have, so look at all that expensive leisure time we can save those poor peons. Yeah, been there, done that, and the things I've been tempted to do with that crowbar! 'Nuff said? Last edited by TechniSol; 12-15-2012 at 02:43 AM.