But if I go on stack overflow and ask "can I divide by two to find a square root", the helpful answer is not "yes, it works for 4" but "no, you need to use an iterative approximation".
I think this example is missing something. In the case above, the working-for-4 case is like a stopped clock being right twice a day. There are cases which are more like a non-stopped clock being right most of the time, except when there's a GMT/BST switch or you're travelling between timezones or the clock runs out of batteries or whatever, and you have a choice between "these aren't an issue for me in my particular case", "these are an issue but I can correct for these by hand when needed" and "I need a good clock that handles all of these cases (and probably a few others that I've forgotten about) automatically".
So, can I tell the time by looking at my kitchen clock? Does the presence or absence of batteries in the back of my clock affect whether I can tell the time with it by looking at it? Does the possibility of my flatmate correcting the clock for GMT or leaving it uncorrected (without telling me either way) affect whether I can tell the time with it by looking at it?
ETA: is trying to parse, or process, (X)(HT)ML with a regex like trying to tell the time with a sundial?
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Date: 2012-11-20 03:36 pm (UTC)I think this example is missing something. In the case above, the working-for-4 case is like a stopped clock being right twice a day. There are cases which are more like a non-stopped clock being right most of the time, except when there's a GMT/BST switch or you're travelling between timezones or the clock runs out of batteries or whatever, and you have a choice between "these aren't an issue for me in my particular case", "these are an issue but I can correct for these by hand when needed" and "I need a good clock that handles all of these cases (and probably a few others that I've forgotten about) automatically".
So, can I tell the time by looking at my kitchen clock? Does the presence or absence of batteries in the back of my clock affect whether I can tell the time with it by looking at it? Does the possibility of my flatmate correcting the clock for GMT or leaving it uncorrected (without telling me either way) affect whether I can tell the time with it by looking at it?
ETA: is trying to parse, or process, (X)(HT)ML with a regex like trying to tell the time with a sundial?