AltTab

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An example of IfItIsHardToWriteItIsHardToUse?

From http://joel.editthispage.com/stories/storyReader$55...

: Another example from the world of Microsoft Windows is the Alt+Tab key combination which switches to the "next" window. Most users would probably assume that it simply rotates among all available windows. If you have window A, B, and C, with A active, Alt+Tab should take you to B. Alt+Tab again would take you to C. Actually, what happens is that the second Alt+Tab takes you back to A. The only way to get to C is to hold down Alt and press Tab twice. It's a nice way to toggle between two applications, but almost nobody figures it out, because it's a slightly more complicated model than the rotate-among-available-windows model.

: It's hard enough to make the program model conform to the user model when the models are simple. When the models become complex, it's even more unlikely. So pick the simplest possible model.

I'll bet you anything that it was harder to code this behaviour that it is to cycle through the process list.

I always thought this Alt+Tab functionality was more intuitive, not less. This way, every time you press Alt+Tab once, you go to the application you were at previously. Of course, this may not be the case for everybody. Simplicity is subjective, no? -- FrancisHwang

Alt+Tab interacts with all ways of changing windows, so a single Alt+Tab always acts as an "undo" for window selection. Having undos is good (according to HumaneInterface, etc). Having multiple forms of undo (Alt+Tab, Ctrl+Z) isn't monotonous, and so is bad, but this is just a consequence of a multiple window environment.

Returning to the previous window is a commonly desired operation, so probably should be optimised. Altdown, Tab, Altup is ok. Altdown, (Tab) x 5, Altup is worse, even with auto-repeat.

Holding down Alt, and hitting the weird button on the keyboard marked with a pair of opoosite arrows, and then letting go of Alt. I can't imagine most users would assume anything about what that would do, or that one could call any particular behaviour "intuitive".

I disagree with coding hardness too. One method orders the Alt+Tab sequence by process ID. The other orders it by Z-order. They sound equally easy to me, and you need the z-order anyway for other purposes. --MartinHarper

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