Re: [Pan-users] Making Pan behave like OE/Windows Mail

[Steven D'Aprano]

On 29/01/13 05:51, Joe Zeff wrote:
> On 01/28/2013 04:02 AM, Steven D'Aprano wrote:
> > If you're not asked for a stable sort, you can't exactly be criticised
> > for not providing a stable sort. Much.
>
> To be fair, neither of us was aware of the "problem" until after the
> work was done.


Yes, which is why I said that gathering user requirements should always
have at least two iterations.


> I knew how to write a shell sort and that it was loads faster than a
> bubble (especially one written in the least efficient manner) but I
> wasn't aware that it wouldn't come out with the customer numbers in the
> same order or that this was even an issue. I would have thought that
> (remember, this was back in '84) going from 60 minutes to sort 300 names
> to 3 would be good enough, but I guess she wanted egg in her beer as well.


I'm reminded of a story my wife tells me of when she was touring the US,
and was heading cross-country with the roadies. At some point she realised
that they were actually going the wrong way, and were heading *away* from
their next gig. When she raised this with the driver, his reply was "Who
cares, we're making fantastic time!"

Sorting the data in the wrong order really quickly is not necessarily an
improvement, and asking for a stable sort is not a luxury. In the business
world, sorting on multiple keys is a basic, fundamental requirement, not
"egg in her beer".

Yes, her boss decided not to pay for you to fix the bug, but bosses often
make decisions that cause more work for their staff. Everything is trivially
easy for the person who doesn't have to do it.



--
Steven