annotate admin/notes/iftc @ 56607:bb747df032a9

Various changes in addition to: (Using Interactive): Clarify description of `interactive-form'. (Interactive Call): Mention default for KEYS argument to `call-interactively'. (Command Loop Info): Clarify description of `this-command-keys'. Mention KEEP-RECORD argument to `clear-this-command-keys'. Value of `last-event-frame' can be `macro'. (Repeat Events): `double-click-fuzz' is also used to distinguish clicks and drags. (Classifying Events): Clarify descriptions of `event-modifiers' `event-basic-type' and `event-convert-list'. (Accessing Events): `posn-timestamp' takes POSITION argument. (Quoted Character Input): Clarify description of `read-quoted-char' and fix example. (Quitting): Add `with-local-quit'. (Disabling Commands): Correct and clarify descriptions of `enable-command' and `disable-command'. Mention what happens if `disabled-command-hook' is nil. (Keyboard Macros): Mention LOOPFUNC arg to `execute-kbd-macro'. Describe `executing-kbd-macro' instead of obsolete `executing-macro'.

Iso-Functional Type Contour


This is a term coined to describe "column int->float" change approach, and can
be used whenever low-level types need to change (hopefully not often!) but the
meanings of the values (whose type has changed) do not.

The premise is that changing a low-level type potentially means lots of code
needs to be changed as well, and the question is how to do this incrementally,
which is the preferred way to change things.

Say LOW and HIGH are C functions:

  int LOW (void) { return 1; }
  void HIGH (void) { int value = LOW (); }

We want to convert LOW to return float, so we cast HIGH usage:

  float LOW (void) { return 1.0; }
  void HIGH (void) { int value = (int) LOW (); }  /* iftc */

The comment /* iftc */ is used to mark this type of casting to differentiate
it from other casting.  We commit the changes and can now go about modifying
LOW and HIGH separately.  When HIGH is ready to handle the type change, the
cast can be removed.

;;; arch-tag: 3309cc41-5d59-421b-b7be-c94b04083bb5