HackerAfter an edit, how can you see what actually changed?
A green test, a live picture and a replayable history all count as feedback. Follow one edit and ask which consequences become visible and which still need reflection.
Questions in this reading · 6
How quickly can a programmer see a mistake?
Running tests on every file change shortens one feedback loop. Showing the changing behavior beside the edit shortens another. The signals tell the programmer different things.
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each time something changes in the directory it reruns the commandif you make a change or you make a decision you need to see the effect of that immediatelyWhat if feedback arrived with the edit?
One talk traces a search for shorter feedback loops. The other shows what creators can discover when the result is continuously visible.
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What if we shortened the feedback loop to effectively nothingcreators need an immediate connection to what they createCan creators see the effect of an edit?
A notation tool and a programming environment both make an edit visible. Look for the precise gap each closes between an action and the result its author can inspect.
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...by making the arrow a subtle shade of blue? Do you know how hard that is to see?you need to see the effect of that immediatelyWhat can you stop imagining once an edit is visible?
Two programming environments and a notation editor let their users inspect the effect of an edit. Feedback reduces mental simulation without guaranteeing conceptual understanding.
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if you make a change or you make a decision you need to see the effect of that immediatelySo I could literally watch the
data flow through my program....by making the arrow a subtle shade of blue? Do you know how hard that is to see?How can an environment make time visible?
One demonstration makes behavior visible while editing on a screen. Another brings that feedback into a physical workspace. Compare what the maker can inspect in each setting.
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immediately you have to map time to spacelook across a range of time at onceMust we choose between reflection and instant feedback?
Thinking away from the keyboard helps frame the problem. A responsive medium helps inspect an idea once expressed. The two techniques address different moments in the work.
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you're going to try stuff and go backcreators need an immediate connection to what they createTry it on your own example
Take a recent edit. Which intermediate state would disappear if you saw only the final frame?