Re: The picture element: complexity

On Thu, 12 Sep 2013 12:19:24 +0200, Simon Pieters <simonp@opera.com> wrote:

> The design using multiple elements makes the implementation much more  
> complex compared to a design using a single element. I've mentioned this  
> before [1].
>
> <source> for <video> and <audio> is also too complex. My experience with  
> quality assurance for <video> at Opera suggests that <source> is a  
> mistake that we should not repeat. There are too many edge cases. If I  
> had realized this before it shipped in browsers I would have argued that  
> <video> be changed to not use <source> elements, but now we're stuck  
> with it.
>
> The argument against this I usually get is that the Priority of  
> Constituencies design principle says that the needs of authors should  
> win over the needs of implementors. However, this design principle needs  
> to be considered together with the rest of the design principles, in  
> particular in this case Avoid Needless Complexity [2]. In the case of  
> resource selection using one element vs. using multiple elements, I  
> would argue that the latter is about an order of magnitude more complex  
> in the implementation and the needed tests because it enables more edge  
> cases that simply cannot happen when you only have one element.

I think the proposed algorithm in  
http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-style/2013Sep/0357.html more or  
less removes the above concern.

-- 
Simon Pieters
Opera Software