useless features in computer programs
PostPosted:Tue May 10, 2011 2:25 am
Today I was using Oracle's SQL developer and running some procedures I already written elsewhere, so I noticed SQL developer automatically puts the casing of the all your code like a book title, so if you have a variable called a_long_variable it becomes A_Long_Variable. A lot of people, including me, uses all caps for SQL commands so you'll also say, "SELECT * FROM whatever" to "Select * From whatever". Unlike say Word's Autocorrect where if you type over its suggestion it figures you really want to type another way, SQL developer have no problem correcting whatever you just retyped over in the casing it thought was correct. The option to shut it off, of course, is buried pretty deeply inside a whole mess of preferences.
But at least SQL is mostly case insensitive. I also use Classic FTP from Exceed for secure encryption, and it defaults whatever file you upload/download in proper casing, again first letter capitalized and rest lower case. Now, just about every file system I'm aware of is case sensitive, which means if you're replacing files you're going to just create a new file unless the file you're replacing has the exact casing. Classic FTP also offers to put file in all lowercase, uppercase, or proper casing. Why on earth does this feature even exist, and why is it on by default? Maybe some people really like their SQL or files in a certain casing, but it shouldn't be the default behavior of a tool put the casing in an unusual way. It's probably too hard to try to model how many capital letters are supposed to be in a random file, so it seems like the default should be just the same casing of whatever you uploaded/downloaded. I really don't understand who thought it was a good idea to have these features on by default.
But at least SQL is mostly case insensitive. I also use Classic FTP from Exceed for secure encryption, and it defaults whatever file you upload/download in proper casing, again first letter capitalized and rest lower case. Now, just about every file system I'm aware of is case sensitive, which means if you're replacing files you're going to just create a new file unless the file you're replacing has the exact casing. Classic FTP also offers to put file in all lowercase, uppercase, or proper casing. Why on earth does this feature even exist, and why is it on by default? Maybe some people really like their SQL or files in a certain casing, but it shouldn't be the default behavior of a tool put the casing in an unusual way. It's probably too hard to try to model how many capital letters are supposed to be in a random file, so it seems like the default should be just the same casing of whatever you uploaded/downloaded. I really don't understand who thought it was a good idea to have these features on by default.