https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=172.68.26.143&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-29T01:12:29ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1952:_Backpack_Decisions&diff=152118Talk:1952: Backpack Decisions2018-02-08T15:17:18Z<p>172.68.26.143: GIVING A TIP TO THE GUY NAMED IANRBIBTITLHT, A COMPLICATED NAME</p>
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Great, now I can't decide how to write the transcript [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.40|108.162.216.40]] 15:00, 7 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
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And I now want a new backpack. I'm fine with the one I have, but *I want a new one dammit!* But I can't decide which one [[User:Jdluk|Jdluk]] ([[User talk:Jdluk|talk]]) 15:08, 7 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
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The knapsack optimization problem is famous for being NP-hard ([[wikipedia:Knapsack problem|Knapsack problem]]). Seems to be an allusion to it. Sebastian --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.191|162.158.91.191]] 15:53, 7 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
: Nope, see below. The knapsack problem is about optimizing the amount of stuff put into something, while Cueball goes through a [[wikipedia:buying decision process|buying decision process]]. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.114.100|162.158.114.100]] 17:49, 7 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
:: But the buying decision process could be solved by a variation of the knapsack optimation problem: You can choose several features, but cannot combine all of them. The difficulty would be linear in the number of available backpacks (but this would/could be a very large number - for all the other listed items like car, phone, college, appartment, laptop there is less choice available and the decision can be made way faster) and nonlinear in the number of criteria. Sebastian --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.191|162.158.91.191]] 10:18, 8 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
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This comic is an illustration of the [[wikipedia:law of triviality|law of triviality]] aka the bike-shed effect. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.114.100|162.158.114.100]] 17:42, 7 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
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: I don't believe the bike-shed effect is related, since that would imply that he is focusing on unimportant issues instead of important ones. In this case, the problem is trying to satisfy a number of important needs that are not fully met by any one backpack, forcing him to decide which can be left unsatisfied by any particular backpack. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 18:59, 7 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
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:: Yes, you are right. I had the comparison chart in mind and incorrectly connected the dots here. The correct description of the situation is of course [[wikipedia:analysis paralysis|analysis paralysis]]. Snap decisions apparently aren't infallible, either. :P [[Special:Contributions/162.158.114.100|162.158.114.100]] 19:38, 7 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
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:: Now that you point out your reasoning, I can see where someone might think deciding on a backpack is less important than buying a car or picking a college, which is consistent with the bike-shed effect. You deserve points for thinking of it, even though I think it really is more important to Cueball in this case. In fact, I'm surprised that Cueball didn't have a laptop in hand, calculating a composite feature weighted score per backpack to totally geek things up! ;-) [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 22:05, 7 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
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The description completely identifies the author with his figure. Mixes them up. That's very bad form and impolite. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.88.236|162.158.88.236]] 21:39, 7 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
:: On top of that, it makes no sense. Nothing in this comic says anything about laptop choices. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.178.111|162.158.178.111]] 03:08, 8 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
:::Agree. Removed that part and marked it as incomplete, again. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 10:03, 8 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
:::I'm confused by this series of comments. I thought the first one was talking about mixing up references to Cueball and Randall. Then the next comment mentions the lack of content related to laptop choices. First of all, I don't understand how laptop choices are related to the Randall vs Cueball issue (if I interpreted it correctly), and furthermore the bar graph specifically includes a bar for choosing a laptop - that means laptop choices in my book! What am I missing here? [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 14:59, 8 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
::::I'm too lazy to figure out what you're missing, but if I were to do so, I'd start by checking the edit history to see what the description was like at the time(stamp) of those comments, as maybe it focused too much on laptops or whatever. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.26.143|172.68.26.143]] 15:17, 8 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
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Do we really need a Wikipedia link to explain what 'yelling' is? Really? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.26|162.158.155.26]] 11:50, 8 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
:Unless we want to have a link for every word I don't think so. I removed it. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 12:22, 8 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
:Do we really need one for 'all caps'? [[User:Linker|Linker]] ([[User talk:Linker|talk]]) 14:04, 8 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
::The all caps article explains not only what all caps is, but also its connotation to mean shouting. So I think it's a good inclusion. (Maybe the one for yelling was too much though.) [[Special:Contributions/198.41.230.82|198.41.230.82]] 15:10, 8 February 2018 (UTC)</div>172.68.26.143https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1926:_Bad_Code&diff=1520721926: Bad Code2018-02-08T11:39:35Z<p>172.68.26.143: /* Explanation */ COMPLETED the article</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1926<br />
| date = December 8, 2017<br />
| title = Bad Code<br />
| image = bad_code.png<br />
| titletext = "Oh my God, why did you scotch-tape a bunch of hammers together?" "It's ok! Nothing depends on this wall being destroyed efficiently."<br />
}}<br />
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==Explanation==<br />
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[[Ponytail]] has caught [[Cueball]] in the act of writing some messy code - code in the form of a spreadsheet formula, which in turn produces another program in a language called {{w|Haskell (programming language)|Haskell}}. <br />
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Haskell is a {{w|purely functional programming}} language, a concept that has a debatably steep learning curve, which causes Haskell to be a somewhat obscure programming language, as referenced in [[1312: Haskell]].<br />
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It is explained that ''this'' code will, in turn, {{w|Parser|interpret}} ''more'' source code, specifically markup in {{w|HTML}}.<br />
After Cueball excuses his bad code by stating that "nothing depends on this" (meaning that no other projects rely on this code being good to operate properly), Ponytail uses the analogy of breaking a non-load-bearing wall to ridicule Cueball's excuse.<br />
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A {{w|load-bearing wall}} is a wall that plays a role in supporting the building. Damaging such a wall would threaten the structure of the entire building, and could potentially cause a collapse. By contrast, walls that aren't load-bearing are designed only to separate spaces within the building, and do not contribute to keeping the building up. Damaging or destroying such walls wouldn't endanger the overall structure of the building. However, supporting the building is just ''one'' of the functions which could depend on having an intact wall; walls serve many other important purposes, from creating opaque and sound blocking barriers (desirable for privacy purposes, particularly for bedrooms and bathrooms{{Citation needed}}), to containing and protecting water pipes and electrical wiring. Ponytail's analogy suggests that, even though poorly written-code wouldn't cause the entire program to fail, it's still not a good idea.<br />
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Immediately after, Ponytail appears to have realized that she's only ''inspired'' Cueball to go ahead and break the wall, instead of swaying him away from writing ugly code. If left unchecked, this will only end in tragedy. [[905: Homeownership|Hilarious, knee-slapping tragedy.]]<br />
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This is most likely a continuation of the [[:Category:Code Quality|Code Quality]] series, but it differs slightly. For one thing, all of the previous strips were named "Code Quality <number>", with the exception of the first, which was just named "Code Quality". Also note that, unlike the previous Code Quality strips, Ponytail does not start using similes like "This is like being in a house built by a child using nothing but a hatchet and a picture of a house". It's also the longest explanation of Cueball's code by Cueball himself.<br />
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The title text suggests that Cueball's approach to breaking the wall - scotch-taping a bunch of hammers together - is as good as his code. And his excuse is similar.<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball is at his desk in a swivel chair, using his computer. Ponytail walks towards him.]<br />
:Ponytail: That's the ugliest mess of code I've ever seen! What on earth are you working on?<br />
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:[Cueball swivels his chair to face Ponytail in a frameless panel.]<br />
:Cueball: It's nothing weird this time, I swear.<br />
:Cueball: It just looks bad because it's a spreadsheet formula.<br />
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:[Cueball is facing his computer again.]<br />
:Cueball: ...which assembles a Haskell function.<br />
:Ponytail: Uhhh.<br />
:Cueball: ...for parsing HTML.<br />
:Ponytail: ...oh my God.<br />
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:[Ponytail is pointing away from the scene.]<br />
:Cueball: It's ok! Nothing depends on this.<br />
:Ponytail: That wall isn't load-bearing. Does that mean we can just throw hammers at it?<br />
:Cueball: ...I mean...<br />
:Ponytail: Wait. Crap.<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
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[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Programming]]<br />
[[Category:Computers]]<br />
[[Category:Code Quality]]<br />
[[Category:Cueball Computer Problems]]</div>172.68.26.143