Re: Online Documentation
Re: Online Documentation
- Subject: Re: Online Documentation
- From: Marcel Weiher <email@hidden>
- Date: Wed, 25 Jun 2003 15:56:35 +0200
for example i was looking at the NSSet page
<http://developer.apple.com/documentation/Cocoa/Conceptual/
Collections/Concepts/Sets.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/20000136/CJBDHAJD>
yesterday, and i think, although i'm not knowledgeable enough to be
absolutely sure, that there's a glearing great hole in that page.
it starts off:
"A set is an unordered collection of objects. An NSSet is a static
unordered collection of objects. You establish a static sets entries
when its created, and..".
a dictionary is an unordered collection of objects right?
Nope. It is a map of keys to values. Each can be implemented in terms
of the other. A dictionary is a set of associations, where an
association is a key -> value pair, with equality and hash handed off
to the key. In fact, I think that's how most Smalltalks implement
dictionary. A set, on the other hand, can be had by ignoring the
values of a dictionary and concentrating exclusively on the keys.
i believe an NSSet's main distinction is that there can't be
duplicates.
Nope. There can't be duplicates in the dictionary's keys either.
so they're collections of distinct / unique objects?
Yes.
and that'd be worth mentioning i think on a page about NSSets i think!
"The NSSet, NSMutableSet, and NSCountedSet classes declare the
programmatic interface to an object that manages a set of objects.
NSSet provides support for the mathematical concept of a set. A set,
both in its mathematical sense and in the implementation of NSSet, is
an unordered collection of distinct elements."
(if i'm right that is). that page entirely fails to mention or even
hint at that from what i can see. that sort of thing would get sorted
out very quickly if user comments were an option.
Hmm...never looked at the concepts, but it is mentioned in the class
documentation. I also don't think I'd go to Appel to look at basic
data structure concepts, an introductory computer science text would
probably be preferable.
Have you filed a bug?
Marcel
--
Marcel Weiher Metaobject Software Technologies
email@hidden www.metaobject.com
Metaprogramming for the Graphic Arts. HOM, IDEAs, MetaAd etc.
1d480c25f397c4786386135f8e8938e4
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