Re: [Monotone-devel] Re: 3-way merge considered harmful

[Nathaniel Smith]

On Tue, May 03, 2005 at 01:31:48AM +0200, Florian Weimer wrote:
> > Yes, it's possible for two people to make redundant changes.  This is
> > one reason why it's impossible define a merge algorithm that works for
> > all the various I's one might like.  Given that, then, the
> > responsibility of a merge algorithm is to fail in ways that make
> > sense, so the user can have some conceptual model of what the system
> > is doing and how to correct for its failings.
> 
> And that's where test cases come in.  The invariant I (well, I should
> have mad that a J, sorry) could be expressed as a test case, which
> would address the problem neatly and might have other benefits, too.

Oh, well, sure, it's a good idea to test your merges, just like the
rest of your commits.  That's not an invariant that it's very easy to
design a merge algorithm around satisfying, though :-).

-- Nathaniel

-- 
Details are all that matters; God dwells there, and you never get to
see Him if you don't struggle to get them right. -- Stephen Jay Gould