Joel Rees <joel.r...@gmail.com> writes: > (2) When I was a college student, when we talked about modularity, we > talked about something called "implicit linkage". I don't know what > the current term for it is, but it is the generalized problem of > global constants, variables, protocols, and design patterns, > especially those which are never formally declared. > [...] > In other words, the old adage that "A computer only does what you tell > it to." no longer applies when implicit linkage is high.
Thank you for all the good points you're making! I'm not sure if I understand what "implicit linkage" means. I think it was Slavko who, IIUC, pointed out that a bug otherwise minor or not noticeable in some part of an "entangled conglomerate" (of software, in this case) has better chances to cause trouble (and will be very difficult to track down and to fix), the more entangled the conglomerate is and the larger the conglomerate is. This may kinda correspond to the saying that a chain isn't any stronger than it's weakest link. The effect is also that the computer doesn't seem to do anymore what you tell it to. But implicit linkage? That software depends on (or: needs to be entangled with) other software (in a conglomerate of software) doesn't seem to fall under implicit linkage but under "explicit linkage": Software intentionally entangles itself with other software. I could guess that implicit linkage might refer to side effects of intentional entanglement which may be undesirable or may occur without being noticed (until a problem shows up which then might be hard to track down and to fix because there are unknown side effects due to implicit linkage caused by broken design). Or does it refer to unintentional entanglement (and its side effects)? Or what is it? -- Knowledge is volatile and fluid. Software is power. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: https://lists.debian.org/87d2an8fng....@yun.yagibdah.de
