[Scummvm-devel] String cmp & Max

[Jurgen Braam]

Hi All, 

I'm working with Lars/Anotherguest on the Symbian port, and have not posted
to this list for quite some time. I do read everything that is posted to it,
though. I'm very busy with finishing up my graduation project so I do not
have time to work on ScummVM, as much as I would like to.

Anyways: back to the subject(s) at hand:

> I am wondering whether we should turn the comparison 
> operators of class String to be case insensitive by default 

I do not know enough about the use of our String class in all the code, and
it would seem to me that most of the comparisons would indeed be case
insensitive, but why not support *both* types of comparisons. The one could
be the regular == operator, the other could be a function like
str1.iCmp(str2) or str1.compareIns(str2). I also think most developers would
expect a regular == string comparison to be case sensitive, so making the
default one insensitive could be counter-intuitive.

Okay, then about Max's "venting":

Max: I think you are doing a great job of keeping oversight on the ScummVM
project. Someone needs to keep an eye on the 'bigger picture', while most of
us go down and deep into the gory details of our 'own' engine, port or
kewl-new-feature. Without someone focusing on the overall design, things
will slowly but inevitably fall into utter chaos.
Then to defend, or maybe better: explain the silence of the other
developers. I know that I don't have the time I would like to spend on
ScummVM development, and imagine that the Real Lives(tm) of other people
also tend to 'get in the way'. And unqualified: I guess that is true to some
extent: most of us just think about our own gory details, and do not see the
common usage patterns you so correctly call them. That is *exactly* why you
should be doing what you are doing: throwing up dust and suggesting changes:
if these changes would be so outrageous then you probably would have gotten
some form of a reply. Instead maybe your suggestion was right on the money,
and nobody is complaining because it actually makes sense: and then people
think that someone else will tell you that it's a good idea. Oh don't we
like the anonimity of the masses ;)

Well, I just wanted to make sure that we don't lose one of the great
developers we have working on ScummVM, making me come out of nowhere and
suddenly write this (damn it really has become uncommonly long for me)
message. To just say it once more: u da man Max: keep up the good work! 

Be seein' y'all,

Best Regards,
Jurgen / SumthinWicked