Morphic! (ans to Jason from previous thread)

My previous attempt to post this was only partially
successful. This is the full post. -Jer



Hi Jason,

Thanks for your interest.

Spec means speculation and doing something on spec
means you take the responsibility that it might or
might not be accepted by the publisher. The other way
to do something is on commission where others specify
what you are to do but give a garantee that the work
will be of use to them and you will be compensated. 

As for motivation for morphic work, for me it means
the work must be interesting (as defined by my
curiosity) lead to something I think elegant in the
code and the behavior of the morphs and allow me to
learn and grow in my own  understanding of squeak,
morphic and things larger.

You apparently have the curiosity streak as well.

So answer me this, and I can better advise you.

What would you like to learn from reading the
“specifications?” you thought I had mentioned?

What would you like to be able to do with the
knowledge?

Often, instead of specifications, I find it useful to
just write down what I want to see squeak do. As
vaguely as my initial understanding permits.  As
briefly as I can fit all my ideas in. And as
passionately as the forces of desire inside me wish
for the feature to exist.

Oddly, the rest of it is all downhill from there.  The
specifications become the detailing of the initial
statement. The code comes from implementing pieces of
the details, testing them and proving they work. The
fun comes when the coding process leads to something
unexpected and the detail or even the original
statement becomes worth rewriting. Incremental design
benifits the designer by educating him all along the
way. (Look on the web for articles about McReadys
gossamer condor.)

Anyway thanks for your response and request. Its been
fun writing this.

Yours in curiosity and service,  --Jerome Peace



       
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