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Joined 11 months ago
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Cake day: August 9th, 2023

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  • As an example, Klipper (for running 3d printers) can update its configuration file directly when doing certain automatic calibration processes. The z-offset for between a BLtouch bed sensor and the head, for example. If you were to save it, you might end up with something like this:

    [bltouch]
    z_offset: 3.020
    ...
    #*# <---------------------- SAVE_CONFIG ---------------------->
    #*# DO NOT EDIT THIS BLOCK OR BELOW. The contents are auto-generated.
    #*#
    [bltouch]
    z_offset: 2.950
    

    Thus overriding the value that had been set before, but now you have two entries for the same thing. (IIRC, Klipper does comment out the original value, as well.)

    What I’d want is an interface where you can modify in place without these silly save blocks. For example:

    let conf = get_config()
    conf.set( 'bltouch.z_offset', 2.950 )
    conf.add_comment_after( 'bltouch.z_offset', 'Automatically generated' )
    conf.save_config()
    

    Since we’re declaratively telling the library what to modify, it can maintain the AST of the original with whitespace and comments. Only the new value changes when it’s written out again, with a comment for that specific line.

    Binary config formats, like the Windows Registry, almost have to use an interface like this. It’s their one advantage over text file configs, but it doesn’t have to be. We’re just too lazy to bother.










  • What I’d like for a configuration language is a parser that can handle in-place editing while maintaining whitespace, comments, etc. That way, automatic updates don’t clobber stuff the user put there, or (alternatively) have sections of ### AUTOMATIC GENERATION DO NOT CHANGE###.

    You need a parser that handles changes on its own while maintaining an internal representation. Something like XML DOM (though not necessarily that exact API). There’s a handful out there, but they’re not widespread, and not on every language.








  • No way they’re replacing the bigger ones, like the Moskva. That one was built in a yard that’s now in Ukraine, and Russia hasn’t gotten that part back. Even if they did, Ukraine hadn’t really maintained it.

    It was also launched in 1979, and they haven’t built anything that size since the USSR fell.

    They’d have to rebuild the infrastructure needed to build the ship. These losses are irreplaceable.



  • Not sure about GP, but that’s basically what we did under “SAFe” (Scaled Agile Framework). PI planning means taking most of a sprint to plan everything for the next quarter or so. It’s like a whole week of ticket refinement meetings. Or perhaps 3 days, but when you’ve had 3 days of ticket refinement meetings, it might as well be the whole work week for as much a stuff as you’re going to get done otherwise.

    It’s as horrible as you’re thinking, and after a lot of agitating, we stopped doing that shit.