Updates to «right ways» chapter

004/codex-004.tex

@@ -425,19 +425,24 @@ And of course, there is also a shorthand version:
 
 
 
-\chapter{The Right Ways vs The Wrong Ways}
+\chapter{The Right Ways vs The Wrong Ways \\{\small (i.e., The Hierarchy of Errors)}}
 
 A lot of us grew up hearing that ``there's a right way to do things and a wrong way to do things.'' I don't disagree that there is always a \textit{wrong} way to do things, but like house maintenance, working on computers quickly teaches you that there are a \textit{lot} of wrong ways to do things. 
 
-Experience has shown me that not all wrong ways are wrong in the same way or to the same degree, and that the same is true of right ways. There may be multiple right ways to get something done, but some require less work and some require more work. It is not just a black-and-white issue. 
+Experience has shown me that not all wrong ways are wrong in the same way or to the same degree, and that the same is true of right ways. There may be multiple right ways to get something done, but some require less work and some require more work. It is not simply a black-and-white issue. 
 
 In the past few years, I've started thinking of things less in terms of a particular ``right way'' opposed to a particular ``wrong way'', and started thinking in terms of a spectrum of choices, some of which are obviously wrong (but wrong to varying degrees) and some of which are right because they work, but you have to take different roads to get there. 
 
 What I have tried to do here is to create a hierarchy of ``rightness'' and ``wrongness'' as a way to organize my thinking on this subject; I can then jump in and discuss why things fall the way they do. No doubt, other people might have more distinctions or fewer in their hierarchy, or might have things in a separate order, or might have different reasons. 
 
-And, as we shall see, sometimes it's beneficial to do something the wrong way.
+My purpose here is to see if I am actually making any progress, or if I am simply doing things randomly, as adult-onset attention deficit disorder is apparently a thing in my life.
 
-\newpage % Move this list to a new page.
+And, as we shall see, sometimes it's beneficial to do something the wrong way. You generally learn more by doing things wrong than you do by doing them correctly.
+
+\krule{6mm}{0mm}
+\begin{center}
+\noindent{}{\large \textsc{\textbf{The Hierarchy of Errors}}}
+\end{center}\krule{0mm}{6mm}
 
 \begin{itemize}[noitemsep]
 \item \textbf{Very Wrong}
@@ -495,13 +500,13 @@ Wrong ways may work, but they break other things along the way. As we shall see,
 
 \section{Wrong\textit{ish} Ways}
 
-\paragraph{It works in this specific instance, but not in all instances.} It works, so why is this way still wrong? Because it's not \textit{universal} for all similar situations. If it works in \textit{this one particular instance} but not similar instances, and you don't know why, then there is something about this particular instance that you are not aware of. This is not a bad thing if you're willing to chase down that unknown thing; it's potentially disastrous if you are not. 
+\paragraph{It works in this specific instance, but not in all instances.} It works, so why is this way still wrong? Because it's not \textit{universal} for all similar situations. If it works in \textit{this one particular instance} but not similar instances, and you don't know why, then there is something about this particular instance that you are not aware of. This is a good thing if you're willing to chase down that unknown thing; it's potentially disastrous if you are not. 
 
 \paragraph{It works, but it's far more work than it should be.} This is often a case of not having the right tools, or having the right tools but not knowing how to use them. If you need to dig a ditch, a shovel will work, but a backhoe works much better. All that time you spent working with a shovel is time you could have spent doing something else.
 
 \section{Right\textit{ish} Ways}
 
-\paragraph{It works, but you have no idea why.} I was very tempted to put this in the wrong\textit{ish} section, and in some cases it may certainly belong there. Quite frankly, you should know why a technique works. Not knowing why can be dangerous, because you assume too much about this particular technique. That may cause you to be a bit overconfident with it, and use it in a situation that doesn't really warrant its use.
+\paragraph{It works, but you have no idea why.} I was very tempted to put this in the wrong\textit{ish} section, and in some cases it may certainly belong there. Quite frankly, you \textit{should} know why a technique works. Not knowing why can be dangerous, because you can assume too much about this particular technique. That may cause you to be a bit overconfident with it, and use it in a situation that doesn't really warrant its use.
 
 \paragraph{It works, but it requires you to rework some other parts of the project.} I admit, I was at a lost as to where to put this one. And I guess it depends if you are using a kludge or a best practice, so I'm going to assume you are using a best practice. In which case, this shows you places that you were possibly \textit{not} using something which is a best practice, and now you need to make those things better.
 
@@ -511,13 +516,15 @@ Wrong ways may work, but they break other things along the way. As we shall see,
 
 \paragraph{It works, and is considered a best practice.} A best practice is one that has generally been accepted as the best way to do things not because it is perfect, but because it produces results that are better than the results achieved by other methods. This is a good thing. A best practice is a best practice because it's proven itself. It's not perfect (hence it's a ``best practice'' not a ``perfect practice''), but you can count on it to get the job done. And because it is a best practice, when things go pear-shaped, it's probably because of something you've done, but if it isn't, there will most likely be a lot of people who are \textit{very} interested in helping you.
 
-Unfortunately, sometimes a best practice is arrived at that for no other reason than ``that's how we've always done it and nothing has exploded yet.'' That's not great, but still, have a fire extinguisher handy.
+Unfortunately, sometimes a best practice is arrived at that for no other reason than ``that's how we've always done it and nothing has exploded yet.'' That's not great, but still…have a fire extinguisher handy.
 
 \section{Genius Ways}
 
 \paragraph{It's a true hack.}
 
-As I said way back in the first issue, I define a hack as ``an appropriate application of ingenuity''\footnote{See \kref{http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/meaning-of-hack.html}{http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/meaning-of-hack.html} for more information.}. These are rare, often false (it only resembles a hack; like the wizard in \textit{The Wizard of Oz}, it's based on smoke and mirrors), and even more often small.\footnote{You can usually identify a false hack by how large it is.} If you find one, enjoy it, preserve it, and help to disseminate it.
+As I said way back in the first issue, I define a hack as ``an appropriate application of ingenuity''\footnote{See \kref{http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/meaning-of-hack.html}{http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/meaning-of-hack.html} for more information.}. True hacks are rare and often small, whereas false hacks (that is, it only resembles a hack; like the wizard in \textit{The Wizard of Oz} who says he's a wizard and looks like a wizard, but is not an actual wizard) are all too common, and the internet is littered with them\footnote{See issues \#1 and 3 for more information.}.
+
+If you find a true hack, enjoy it, preserve it, and help to disseminate it.
 
 \chapter{Not Another PDF Scanner}