<!-- MHonArc v2.4.4 --> <!--X-Subject: [MUD-Dev] Re: Let's talk about numbers. --> <!--X-From-R13: "F. Oyrknaqre Bbcvry" <cbcvryNfahtuneobe.pbz> --> <!--X-Date: Fri, 25 Sep 1998 08:03:44 -0700 --> <!--X-Message-Id: 199809251503.IAA02560#cashew,snugharbor.com.snugharbor.com --> <!--X-Content-Type: text/plain --> <!--X-Reference: 199809250559.AAA12879@dfw-ix14.ix.netcom.com --> <!--X-Head-End--> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> <html> <head> <title>MUD-Dev message, [MUD-Dev] Re: Let's talk about numbers.</title> <!-- meta name="robots" content="noindex,nofollow" --> <link rev="made" href="mailto:popiel#snugharbor,com"> </head> <body background="/backgrounds/paperback.gif" bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000" link="#0000FF" alink="#FF0000" vlink="#006000"> <font size="+4" color="#804040"> <strong><em>MUD-Dev<br>mailing list archive</em></strong> </font> <br> [ <a href="../">Other Periods</a> | <a href="../../">Other mailing lists</a> | <a href="/search.php3">Search</a> ] <br clear=all><hr> <!--X-Body-Begin--> <!--X-User-Header--> <!--X-User-Header-End--> <!--X-TopPNI--> Date: [ <a href="msg01220.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg01222.html">Next</a> ] Thread: [ <a href="msg01213.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg01232.html">Next</a> ] Index: [ <A HREF="author.html#01221">Author</A> | <A HREF="#01221">Date</A> | <A HREF="thread.html#01221">Thread</A> ] <!--X-TopPNI-End--> <!--X-MsgBody--> <!--X-Subject-Header-Begin--> <H1>[MUD-Dev] Re: Let's talk about numbers.</H1> <HR> <!--X-Subject-Header-End--> <!--X-Head-of-Message--> <UL> <LI><em>To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A></LI> <LI><em>Subject</em>: [MUD-Dev] Re: Let's talk about numbers. </LI> <LI><em>From</em>: "T. Alexander Popiel" <<A HREF="mailto:popiel#snugharbor,com">popiel#snugharbor,com</A>></LI> <LI><em>Date</em>: Fri, 25 Sep 1998 08:03:30 -0600</LI> <LI><em>cc</em>: <A HREF="mailto:popiel#snugharbor,com">popiel#snugharbor,com</A></LI> <LI><em>Reply-To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A></LI> </UL> <!--X-Head-of-Message-End--> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-Begin--> <HR> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-End--> <!--X-Body-of-Message--> <PRE> In message: <<A HREF="msg01213.html">199809250559.AAA12879#dfw-ix14,ix.netcom.com</A>> "Jon A. Lambert" <jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com> writes: >On 24 Sep 98, T. Alexander Popiel wrote: >> >> I'd tend to say that no, fixed dimensional arrays are not evil, if >> properly marked. > >Well in this case it seems reasonable enough. But let me make an >argument for another way... > >At initialization, a configuration file is read that sets >st_max_depth to some value. Then you allocate your tree later on .. This is good, if taken in moderation. In fact, PennMUSH has several dozen of these sorts of runtime configuration parameters. There are so many configuration parameters that we routinely get complaints that there are _TOO MANY_. So, to satisfy user demand, we're changing some parameters to be fixed values in various headers, we're getting rid of data structures that require tuning (hence the use of a red black tree for the string table instead of a hash table), etc. Users are finicky things; they claim to want flexibility, but what they really want is flexibility to do what _they_ want, without having to even think about what other people might want. Burying them in configurable options is a good way to make them say 'but this isn't user-friendly!'. This extends to people setting up servers as well as the people playing the games. >What about things like: >char MudTitle[65]; The 65 should be a #define, but the limit is defendable when you consider width limitations in things like the who list. (Why not just show only the first 65 chars in the who list? Because the who list is the only place it's visible, and why bother storing stuff that nobody can ever see?) (Yes, you could plan ahead for the time when someone makes the getMudTitle() function, but perhaps the person making that function also has a clue and can change the storage mechanism. Assuming that all future programmers are idiots is what's given us bloated pieces of crap like...) >#define MAX_ROOMNUMS 9999 This is a runtime option, for me. >#define MAX_STRING 80 This is a compile time option, because there are static buffers and buffers on the stack all over the place, so that we don't thrash malloc(). (We once had someone telling us that malloc(), free(), and realloc() were all magical zero-cost operations. He never got a clue, unfortunately... we ended up just ignoring him.) >#define FIRE_BIT 2^4 This is going from a compile time option to a runtime computed value (NOT a user-visible option) just as soon as I get done with this next piece of code... - Alex </PRE> <!--X-Body-of-Message-End--> <!--X-MsgBody-End--> <!--X-Follow-Ups--> <HR> <ul compact><li><strong>Follow-Ups</strong>: <ul> <li><strong><A NAME="01232" HREF="msg01232.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Let's talk about numbers.</A></strong> <ul compact><li><em>From:</em> Caliban Tiresias Darklock <caliban#darklock,com></li></ul> </UL></LI></UL> <!--X-Follow-Ups-End--> <!--X-References--> <UL><LI><STRONG>References</STRONG>: <UL> <LI><STRONG><A NAME="01213" HREF="msg01213.html">[MUD-Dev] Let's talk about numbers.</A></STRONG> <UL><LI><EM>From:</EM> "Jon A. Lambert" <jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com></LI></UL></LI> </UL></LI></UL> <!--X-References-End--> <!--X-BotPNI--> <UL> <LI>Prev by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg01220.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: let's call it a spellcraft</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg01222.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: let's call it a spellcraft</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Prev by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg01213.html">[MUD-Dev] Let's talk about numbers.</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg01232.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Let's talk about numbers.</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Index(es): <UL> <LI><A HREF="index.html#01221"><STRONG>Date</STRONG></A></LI> <LI><A HREF="thread.html#01221"><STRONG>Thread</STRONG></A></LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> <!--X-BotPNI-End--> <!--X-User-Footer--> <!--X-User-Footer-End--> <ul><li>Thread context: <BLOCKQUOTE><UL> <LI><STRONG>[MUD-Dev] Re: let's call it a spellcraft</STRONG>, <EM>(continued)</EM> <ul compact> <ul compact> <ul compact> <ul compact> <ul compact> <LI><strong><A NAME="01186" HREF="msg01186.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: let's call it a spellcraft</A></strong>, Marc Hernandez <a href="mailto:marc#jb,com">marc#jb,com</a>, Thu 24 Sep 1998, 06:41 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="01212" HREF="msg01212.html">[MUD-Dev] Let's talk about numbers.</A></strong>, Jon A. Lambert <a href="mailto:jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com">jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com</a>, Fri 25 Sep 1998, 05:59 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="01192" HREF="msg01192.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: let's call it a spellcraft</A></strong>, T. Alexander Popiel <a href="mailto:popiel#snugharbor,com">popiel#snugharbor,com</a>, Thu 24 Sep 1998, 15:15 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="01213" HREF="msg01213.html">[MUD-Dev] Let's talk about numbers.</A></strong>, Jon A. Lambert <a href="mailto:jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com">jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com</a>, Fri 25 Sep 1998, 05:59 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="01221" HREF="msg01221.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Let's talk about numbers.</A></strong>, T. Alexander Popiel <a href="mailto:popiel#snugharbor,com">popiel#snugharbor,com</a>, Fri 25 Sep 1998, 15:03 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="01232" HREF="msg01232.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Let's talk about numbers.</A></strong>, Caliban Tiresias Darklock <a href="mailto:caliban#darklock,com">caliban#darklock,com</a>, Fri 25 Sep 1998, 20:30 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="01235" HREF="msg01235.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Let's talk about numbers.</A></strong>, Jon A. Lambert <a href="mailto:jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com">jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com</a>, Fri 25 Sep 1998, 22:36 GMT <LI><strong><A NAME="01247" HREF="msg01247.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Let's talk about numbers.</A></strong>, Adam J. Thornton <a href="mailto:adam#phoenix,Princeton.EDU">adam#phoenix,Princeton.EDU</a>, Sat 26 Sep 1998, 03:31 GMT </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="01250" HREF="msg01250.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Let's talk about numbers.</A></strong>, Caliban Tiresias Darklock <a href="mailto:caliban#darklock,com">caliban#darklock,com</a>, Sat 26 Sep 1998, 04:18 GMT </LI> </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> </LI> </ul> </ul> </ul> </ul> </ul> </LI> </UL></BLOCKQUOTE> </ul> <hr> <center> [ <a href="../">Other Periods</a> | <a href="../../">Other mailing lists</a> | <a href="/search.php3">Search</a> ] </center> <hr> </body> </html>