On Sun, 28 Feb 2016 11:38 pm, BartC wrote: > On 28/02/2016 06:34, Steven D'Aprano wrote: > >> GUI elements are by definition graphical in nature, and like other >> graphical elements, manipulation by hand is superior to command-based >> manipulation. Graphical interfaces for manipulating graphics have won the >> UI war so effectively that some people have forgotten there ever was a >> war. Can you imagine using Photoshop without drag and drop? >> >> And yet programming those graphical interfaces is an exception. There, >> with very few exceptions, we still *require* a command interface. Not >> just a command interface, but an *off-line* command interface, where you >> batch up all your commands then run them at once, as if we were >> Neanderthals living in a cave. > > You've got that back to front. > > It's the GUI users who are the Neanderthals, having to effectively point > at things with sticks. Or have to physically move that rock themselves > (ie. drag a file to a wastebasket).
I haven't physically moved an icon to the wastebasket for years. I point at the icon, right-click, and tell it "move yourself to the trash". > More advanced uses have the power of language, with all its > sophistications (ie. commands lines and scripting). Language is pretty important. But when you need to drive a nail into a piece of wood, would you rather hit the nail with a hammer, or explain to the hammer the precise direction and magnitude of force you would like it to apply when it impacts the nails? -- Steven -- https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
