Re: Command-line interface thoughts
- From
Jonathan Nieder <jrnieder@gmail.com>
- Date
- Jun 7, 2011, 19:11 UTC
- Message-ID
- <20110607191152.GB24929@elie>
- In-Reply-To
- <4DEE755C.8030108@ira.uka.de>
Holger Hellmuth wrote:
Show 6 quoted lines
> If someone finds the three-way diff completely mystifiying, how do > you expect him to resolve a merge conflict at all? Or recognize that > there is one? Or find the command to use after editing out the > conflict markers? > > A novice user will have no real mental model anyway.
Yes, I think you're getting closer to the point I was trying to make. A novice will have a naive mental model, and a good user interface needs to be close to it but not too close. Close because the UI must be intuitive on its own. Not too close because a good UI will help in leading such a person to productive ways of thinking and working, by making common tasks convenient.
So much for generalities.