Re: [css-text-4] text-wrap:balance take 2

I am concerned that this is getting to the level of detail where we
might end up (possibly implicitly) requiring the use of a specific
algorithm.  I don't think that would be appropriate here.

On Tue, Jan 27, 2015 at 1:19 PM, Tab Atkins Jr. <jackalmage@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Tue, Jan 27, 2015 at 12:04 AM, Florian Rivoal <florian@rivoal.net> wrote:
>>> On 26 Jan 2015, at 23:55, Alan Stearns <stearns@adobe.com> wrote:
>>> [...]
>>> the deviation from the average
>>> [...]
>>
>> Is this intentionally left vague, opening differences in terms of quality of implementation?
>
> That's not vague.  Deviation is a numerical value that you can compare
> across lines.  It's just linear difference.
>
>> I would clarify 'deviation' into 'standard deviation'. Compared to the mean absolute deviation, the std dev is preferable, as it punishes extreme values more. For example, on a four line block, if you have between each line being 1 character off the average, or 2 lines being exactly at the average and 2 lines being off by 2 characters, the standard deviation would prefer the first situation, while the mean absolute deviation would be indifferent.
>
> I agree that minimizing the squared deviation is better.  It's almost
> always better for these kinds of "get close to the average" things.
>
> ~TJ
>