Fucked Up Orchard Tree Fix for BV p0
Hook:
I suspect a bunch of inexperienced programmers who have never been taught structured programming are using a graphical development system, sort of like someone tried to turn software development into a computer game. Even if they knew and used proper structured techniques, the end result from the graphical environment may end up looking like spaghetti code, even if it's sorted properly in the BHAV editor.
This graphical development system is, of course, Will Wright's baby, and has as much chance of being scrapped as the Pope has of converting to Buddhism.
Hook
Zazazu:
That's the problem with visual programming. (Not that I've done Sims-like stuff, but I've done web and random other game making utilities). It pastes in your elements as you put them in, but with no regard for the greater whole. So you get a shitload of extra useless crap that clogs stuff and produces unexpected/desirable results. And it's becoming clearer with every EP that they don't do any more testing than to load the game on 20 different system types and say "Yup, it runs. Put a check on it."
dizzy:
The graphical development system is *not* Will Wright's idea. He stole that from hardware designers who need this kind of flow-charting in order to make sense of hardware states. Hardware, however, is HUGELY different from software. What works for designing hardware will not work for designing software. It's two totally different environments.
Hook:
I didn't mean to imply that he invented the idea, just that the system was his baby. I can imagine how much a graphical development system would help hardware designers; I used to draw the schematic and logic diagrams for documentation for a living.
I've seen a good graphical system for object oriented design called Rational Rose, which has probably been merged with something else since then. Some things just lend themselves to graphical methods.
But flow charts? Structured programming made flow charts obsolete back in the mid 70's for any procedural language that had the proper structures built in. You could even force assembly language into structures. Apparently the development system used at Maxis is nothing more than a system to allow programming by flow chart.
Hook
jsalemi:
Quote from: Hook on 2007 September 18, 09:34:41
I've seen a good graphical system for object oriented design called Rational Rose, which has probably been merged with something else since then.
It's the "Rational Analyst Suite" now, with a whole lot more tools. Oh, and it's owned by IBM now, too.
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