# Copyright (C) 2005, The Perl Foundation.
# $Id: model_users.pod 17085 2007-02-20 20:04:14Z paultcochrane $

=head1 NAME

docs/req/model_users.pod - Model Users For Parrot Design Decisions

=head1 RATIONALE

This document exists to give Parrot design a direction.  Before we can make
design decisions, we need a metric to evaluate them.  The best metrics are
based on I<informed> intuition.  This document is designed to inform the
intuition.

Below are listed some model users with random (or, in some cases,
not-so-random) names.

Questions to ask yourself: Do you know anyone who fits these descriptions?  If
so, what else would you write about them?  How would you describe them?  What
else do they care about?  What do they I<not> care about?

And let's remember that, in the end, we can't really please everyone.  So we
have to pick who we'll please, and who we'll piss off.  It just can't be
helped.


=head1 MODEL USERS


=head2 "Audrey": Perl 6 implementer

Audrey has a favorite language, Perl 6, and he wants to target it to Parrot.

Audrey:

=over 4

=item * values speed, but not above all else

=item * values interoperability of languages, especially with Perl 5

=item * doesn't care about PBC particularly, though he knows his users might,
eventually

=item * doesn't mind incompatible source changes, as long as the entire tool
chain still works after upgrading

=back

=head2 "Nick": Ponie implementer

Nick is implementing Perl 5 with (over? under? inside?) Parrot.

Nick:

=over 4

=item * doesn't care about dynamic loading of features

=item * ???

=back

=head2 "Dick": Scripting an existing application

Dick has an application that needs some scripting features, so he's embedding
Parrot to get PIR and the languages that target it, e.g.  Perl 6.

Dick:

=over 4

=item * cares mostly about ease and stability of embedding (no memory leaks!
no seg faults!)

=item * is probably not very sensitive to performance, since scripting
interfaces are never speed demons anyway

=item * probably bundles a specific Parrot version (or linkage to a specific
version) and maybe precompiled pbcs with his program

=item * may be more or less tolerant of changes depending on the system into
which Parrot is embedded

=back

=head2 "Tom": Embedded system creator

Tom loves Perl 6, so wants to write his special-purpose embedded system to run
on Parrot.  The platform is very limited, and speed is not particularly
crucial.

Tom:

=over 4

=item * cares mostly about stable long-term execution (no memory leaks!  no seg
faults!)

=item * doesn't care about inter-version compatibility, since he bundles Parrot
with his product

=item * doesn't care very much about performance

=item * depends on PBC for space efficiency

=item * wants to be able to strip down Parrot for deployment, omitting
subsystems that are large or which depend on large external systems

=back

=head2 "Ilya": Intensive CPU User

Ilya writes high-performance CPU-bound code, typically involving either intense
data structure manipulation or floating point math.

Ilya:

=over 4

=item * cares about performance to exclusion of most other factors

=item * doesn't care about PBC one way or the other

=item * can't handle incompatible source changes; is likely to pick a favorite
feature set and stick with it

=back

=head2 "Magpie": Lover of shiny things

Magpie sees something shiny -- a new runtime, or a new language, or even
better, a new language on a new runtime -- and is willing to do a lot to make
it work, just so he can play with it.

Magpie:

=over 4

=item * loves neat features

=item * doesn't care about PBC, backwards compatibility, or any of the things
that make a platform stable and useful for users who don't care about shiny
tech

=item * will put up with almost any change as long as the inconvenience leads
to something even more shiny

=back
