Author Topic: Note regarding program criticism based on size and amount of sub-programs  (Read 3140 times)

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Offline DJ Omnimaga

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Recently there has been an upsurge in amount of bashing of programs based on file size and amount of files in the TI community, in particular here recently. While this is fine if the program lacks any feature justifying its current size and amount of files (pictures, sub-programs, lists, etc) and if a much smaller size is impossible, I would like to remind people that in other cases, the current version of the Omnimaga rules forbids such thing:

Quote
2: Negative/rude/destructive comments towards someone's project or program based on file size, amount of sub-programs and programming language/libraries used in attempt to discourage the author of the said program. Criticism should be intended to make the person's program better in its current form.
2: Commentaires négatifs/agressifs/destructifs injustifié envers le projet d'un membre (comme dénigrer un jeu entier juste pour sa taille de fichier, le nombre de fichiers ou le langage de programmation utilisé même si le jeu est excellent) dans le but de le décourager.

Doing the above usually leads to lowering of your post rating score by the community, but if moderators are notified of such behavior, it can lead to warnings or even bans. From Nov 1st to Jan 1st and from June 1st to Aug 1st (nDoom policy), bans of a few hours usually replaces warnings even on first offense. In the case a program could be optimized for smaller size, we encourage people to suggest actual optimizations to the author via his project thread.

We also encourage people to remain respectful when criticizing projects, negatively or positively. We want to help people to improve.

While encouraging people to take on projects that match their programming skills and spending extra effort on optimizing your programs, Omnimaga is meant to welcome any type of project, regardless of its file size, amount of files needed to run and programming language utilized. Attempting to discourage people who can from working on projects with more features goes against Omnimaga mentality, and in the past this happened, including here, and some people decided to give up on programming due to what they saw as a lack of respect.

Thank you for understanding.
« Last Edit: December 04, 2011, 04:29:43 pm by DJ_O »

Offline Juju

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Re: Note regarding program criticism based on size and amount of sub-programs
« Reply #1 on: December 04, 2011, 04:24:16 pm »
Hm, that makes sense. I agree. File size or number of subprograms don't really mean anything.
« Last Edit: December 04, 2011, 04:26:14 pm by Juju »

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Offline squidgetx

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Re: Note regarding program criticism based on size and amount of sub-programs
« Reply #2 on: December 04, 2011, 05:35:00 pm »
I would still commend someone who can make a complex game utilizing one file but I agree that direct attacks based purely on file size with no additional suggestions for improvement are unnecessary.

However, I also want to make sure that people understand that file size/number of subprograms does matter. Keep in mind that file quantity and size are as much a part of the user-friendliness of a program as speed is. If a game loads so slowly that it is a pain to the user, he will not want to play if very much, will he? The same goes for a game that takes up so much RAM that the user has to start deleting lists and small appvars (to clear the VAT) in order to play. And many coders dislike the clutter that accompanies files with a large number of subprograms. Whether you like it or not, user-friendliness is affected. If you can help it, try to keep these to a minimum. But critics should also understand the idea that subroutines can only exist in BASIC in this form, etc. etc.

I know I kind of argued both sides at the same time here. The main point I want to get across is to be considerate. Coders, be considerate of your user's time and opinions. Users, be considerate of your coder's hard work and dedication.

Offline DJ Omnimaga

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Re: Note regarding program criticism based on size and amount of sub-programs
« Reply #3 on: December 04, 2011, 05:36:46 pm »
Any idea why this was moved out of news by the way? I thought this would be a good reminder given this happened more recently and the fact that Hot Dog posted several reminders in the past that remained unnafected regarding their news article status?

Offline ztrumpet

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Re: Note regarding program criticism based on size and amount of sub-programs
« Reply #4 on: December 04, 2011, 05:46:30 pm »
Any idea why this was moved out of news by the way?
Yeah - Three staff members (including me) decided that it didn't have anything to do with News, so we moved it away from there.  It also seems that you're being a little provoking towards some of the zContest judges; it was also moved to help avoid unnecessary drama.

Offline DJ Omnimaga

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Re: Note regarding program criticism based on size and amount of sub-programs
« Reply #5 on: December 04, 2011, 05:52:38 pm »
Well ok then, although I think if those kind of rule breaking happens again more and more in the near future, this should probably be moved back, else from experience this can get pretty ugly over the time. Remember for example how bad double-posting became in March 2010 and how it almost stopped after we posted a news about it, and how most summer starts there was an upsurge in spam some years, then news about it almost stopped it.

Also this is a very touchy subject considering it was always in Omni goal before to encourage any kind of project (assuming they're feasible by the person who wants to take on it)