this post was submitted on 22 Mar 2024
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    submitted 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
     

    Though the Windows thing was really funny ๐Ÿ˜‚.

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    [โ€“] [email protected] 95 points 6 months ago (15 children)

    the linux-file-deletion is used as a example for good software design. It has a very simple interface with little room for error while doing exactly what the caller intended.

    In John Ousterhout's "software design philosophy" a chapter is called "define errors out of existence". In windows "delete" is defined as "the file is gone from the HDD". So it must wait for all processes to release that file. In Linux "unlink" is defined as "the file can't be accessed anymore". So the file is gone from the filesystem immediately and existing file-handles from other processes will life on.

    The trade-off here is: "more errors for the caller of delete" vs "more errors due to filehandles to dead files". And as it turns out, the former creates issues for both developers and for users, while the later creates virtually no errors in practice.

    [โ€“] [email protected] 116 points 6 months ago (12 children)

    doing exactly what the caller intended.

    No, no. Exactly what the user told it to do. Not what they intended. There's a difference.

    [โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago (2 children)

    Machines will always do what you tell them to do, as long as you do what they say.

    [โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

    What do they say?

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