Re: More on RPG style

[Simon Coulter <shc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 02/03/2010, at 8:33 AM, Kurt Anderson wrote:

> My point is, "why is 'Not' hard to read/understand/parse?"

A fair number of studies have shown that "negative tests" are  
generally harder for people to comprehend than "positive tests".  
Although it is possible to train yourself to handle negative tests  
more easily, positive tests still parse faster (by humans). Therefore  
it is nearly always better to write:

	if ( something equal otherthing )
than
	if ( something not equal otherthing )
or
	if NOT( something equal otherthing )

For simple tests such as the above there is not much difference  
especially for people whose lives are spent reading such things but  
once the tests become more complex the difference in comprehension  
becomes quite marked.

Regards,
Simon Coulter.
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