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Subject: Re: Same as now, or better

Author: Dann Corbit

Date: 12:06:15 12/01/99

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Prognostication is always going to lead to error, especially when the
extrapolation is off into the distant future.  Consider the analysis of Marx and
Engels.  They saw and accurately reported the bad conditions of their day.  But
in extrapolation, they thought they could predict the future accurately.

That's something people just are not very good at.  Even mathematically, if you
look at the prediction and confidence intervals beyond the last data point, you
will see an exponential expansion of the uncertainty.

Since we don't know what the future holds, I think it is best to try and be as
flexible as possible.

So for a chess program that means:
0. Write in a portable base (e.g. a language standardized by ANSI or ISO)
1. Keep non-portable stuff isolated and modular

Better yet, let someone else do the non-portable interface stuff for you
(Winboard).

In that way, you will be more flexible to future changes.



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