Re: [PATCH] doc: clarify how -S works

From: Jeff King <peff@peff.net>
Date: Mar 3, 2009, 16:19 UTC
Message-ID: <20090303161934.GD32079@coredump.intra.peff.net>
In-Reply-To: <43d8ce650903030812n6fe857atb773f5068b6f0a17@mail.gmail.com>

On Tue, Mar 03, 2009 at 04:12:30PM +0000, John Tapsell wrote:

Show 10 quoted lines

> > To fix it we:
> >
> >  1. use "introduce or remove an instance of" instead of
> >     "contain"
> 
> I would read this to mean that it doesn't include modifying a line
> containing that string.  But I also know that underneath the hood, a
> change is a remove then an addition, so I would be confused :)
> 
> What about saying "modifies" rather than "contain" ?

I'm confused. It _doesn't_ include modifying a line containing the string. In which case it has done its job. But your "but" after that is what leaves me confused. You thought it would mean that, but you don't due to some other knowledge, which is leading you down the wrong path?

I was trying to get away with a short and sweet description. But the behavior is basically (with a few optimizations):

  if count(a, string) != count(b, string) then
    it is interesting

which is unambiguous, but it takes a second to realize the implications.

-Peff