[gdal-dev] Death by Complexity

[Frank Warmerdam]

Ray Gardener wrote:
> You're right -- that post was incomprehensible. I read it twice and 
> still wonder what it's all about. :)

Ray,

Given the amount of time it took me to grasp the problem (and the
fact that this understanding is already fraying around the edges) I
knew I wouldn't be able to explain the issue well.  I think I have
at least communicated a sense of the complexity and fragility of
some aspects of the software.

> But it's a good lesson to learn. And it happens to everyone. The 
> software is telling us "Please refactor me, even my interfaces or 
> fundamental design if you have to, because I'm getting overextended 
> trying to do things that weren't anticipated at my birth."

To be honest, even with a rewrite of GDAL I'm not sure I could handle
this particular situation all that gracefully.  But it might be helpful
if use of the overview manager, the PAM (.aux.xml) mechanism, support
for subdatasets, and support for using one driver to implement imagery
decoding for another were designed in better.

Best regards,
-- 
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I set the clouds in motion - turn up   | Frank Warmerdam, warmerdam at pobox.com
light and sound - activate the windows | http://pobox.com/~warmerdam
and watch the world go round - Rush    | Geospatial Programmer for Rent