There are two things that really drive computers:
Many times data is stored in a binary form and there are complex protocols for transferring and interpreting data, but really, when you unpack everything and see where it is ultimately used, it is generally just text.
Even the languages used to express programs consist of text.
This is because text embodies human-readable and interpretable information. It is the ability of humans to read text that ultimately gives text its value and capacity to hold information.
This is a significant point which I think our modern gadget/image/sound driven world is forgetting as they design software.
Many times I see information (ultimately in the form of simple text of course), packaged into forms that are difficult to extract. Even UI that presents information to you on say a web page or a PDF file often can prevent the extraction of the raw text for transfer to other places.
Just think about it. Where would you be with out Cut/Copy and Paste? The clipboard is probably the most-used feature of any GUI. In the old command line days (still alive and well today) it was the ability to pipe text between commands that gave UNIX and DOS users the power to take disparate tools and combine them efficiently to perform complex tasks.
Can you imagine where we would be without piping and clipboards?
With standards like UTF-8 there just aren't any more excuses. We can pass virtually all information in human-readable text and have the most efficient systems possible.
So here's my tip for the day - are you coding up tons of UI or interface code just to ultimately get some text across a wire or into another program or across to a user? If so, you may be approaching your problem wrong.
- Conventions/Standards
- Raw Text
Many times data is stored in a binary form and there are complex protocols for transferring and interpreting data, but really, when you unpack everything and see where it is ultimately used, it is generally just text.
Even the languages used to express programs consist of text.
This is because text embodies human-readable and interpretable information. It is the ability of humans to read text that ultimately gives text its value and capacity to hold information.
This is a significant point which I think our modern gadget/image/sound driven world is forgetting as they design software.
Many times I see information (ultimately in the form of simple text of course), packaged into forms that are difficult to extract. Even UI that presents information to you on say a web page or a PDF file often can prevent the extraction of the raw text for transfer to other places.
Just think about it. Where would you be with out Cut/Copy and Paste? The clipboard is probably the most-used feature of any GUI. In the old command line days (still alive and well today) it was the ability to pipe text between commands that gave UNIX and DOS users the power to take disparate tools and combine them efficiently to perform complex tasks.
Can you imagine where we would be without piping and clipboards?
With standards like UTF-8 there just aren't any more excuses. We can pass virtually all information in human-readable text and have the most efficient systems possible.
So here's my tip for the day - are you coding up tons of UI or interface code just to ultimately get some text across a wire or into another program or across to a user? If so, you may be approaching your problem wrong.
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