Post #1621348
2026-03-11 12:05 UTC
Replies (3)
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@mattdm@hachyderm.io 2026-03-11 12:22
@virtulis @eltonfc For me, that's very different. That's a mnemonic device — a list of things to not forget. Computer commands are "do this". The high level commands, of course, cause complex functions to be run, but underneath it's all just sugar on top of instructions that are like: "Move the value in this memory buffer to that one. Now add 1 to the value in that buffer. Now compare that value to another buffer, and if it is equal, switch to this other set of instructions." To me, menu items are like that. _However_, interacting directly in a GUI is different. Like, typing into a word processor or drawing with a paint program. There, the metaphor takes over more. Feels more like I'm actively doing stuff, directly, rather than giving commands — even though it is just another interface to the same thing.
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@swift@merveilles.town 2026-03-13 20:57
@virtulis @mattdm @eltonfc oh. To me a todo list is clearly imperative. It's a list of instructions to myself. Wash this, find that, pack those, etc.
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@tomminieminen@mastodontti.fi 2026-03-14 11:54
@virtulis @mattdm @eltonfc Of course one would use imperative there! After all, they are commands to yourself. (I wonder if they use the first person imperative in Hungarian that has it? In Finnish you are forced to use the second person, like the future me is a totally different person.)