This is much easier to explain, and it also avoids errors like
forgetting to delete the save dir after editing sources in source dir.
One drawback: there's a little more risk of accidental data loss, either
because of bugs here or programmer mistakes. To mitigate this risk, put
your apps in a git repo and periodically `git commit`.
1. No more version history, now we have just the contents of the current
version.
2. Editing a definition no longer changes the order in which definitions
load.
This should make repos easier to browse, and more amenable to modify.
You don't need driver.love anymore. And a stable order eliminates some
gotchas. For example:
using driver.love, define `Foo = 3` in a definition
define `Bar = Foo + 1`
edit and redefine `Foo = 4`
Before this commit, you'd get an error when you restart the app.
Definitions used to be loaded in version order, and editing a definition
would move it to the end of the load order, potentially after
definitions using it. I mostly avoided this by keeping top-level
definitions independent. It's fine to refer to any definition inside a
function body, we only need to be careful with initializers for global
variables which run immediately while loading.
After this commit you can still end up in a weird state if you modify a
definition that other later definitions use. In the above example, you
will now see Foo = 4 and Bar = 4. But when you restart, Foo = 4 and Bar
= 5. But that's no more confusing than Emacs's C-x C-e. It's still
a good idea to keep top-level definitions order-independent. It's just
confusing in a similar way to existing tools if you fail to do so. And
your tools won't tend to break as badly.
Why did I ever do my weird version history thing? I think it's my deep
aversion to risking losing any data entered. (Even though the app
currently will seem to lose data in those situations. You'd need to
leave your tools to find the data.) Now I rely on driver.love's undo to
avoid data loss, but once you shut it down you're stuck with what you
have on disk. Or in git.
I also wasn't aware for a long time of any primitives for deleting
files. This might have colored my choices a lot.
This repo does not support freewheeling modification. It's a primitive
to enable freewheeling modification in downstream forks.
The source editor is a convenience, but it's a sharp tool and can easily
leave the app in a broken state that requires dropping down to external
tools (editor, file manager) to fix.
Kartik K. Agaram