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Minor consistency improvements

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Andras Schmelczer 2022-09-18 16:13:51 +02:00
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docs/thesis/chapters/6_results.tex
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@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ The effortless parallel feature extraction and large file handling support were
When reflecting on the framework from a bird's eye view, the generality and extensibility of the API were emphasised. As explained by a senior engineer, this is mainly because once you commit to using it, it is important not to find yourself at a dead end for a specific use case forcing you to look for a different library. However, two participants also noted that for complete generality, \texttt{MATLAB} support would be necessary. Regarding non-functional features, private hosting (especially in banking and government), open-source auditability, and good scalability (by means of an external database) were the top subjects of praise.
\paragraph{API} Regarding the surface through which clients interact with the library, the feedback is also positive but more nuanced. Many participants liked that the functions' behaviour is easy to guess from their names. The decorator syntax caused minor confusion but consulting the documentation solved the issues in all three cases. The CLI app \texttt{great-ai} was appreciated for having a close to trivial signature; the participant noted that she strives to use as few CLI commands as feasible. Surprisingly, even the practitioners with more data science background appreciated the Docker support. Nonetheless, one expert had a feature request for a configuration UI because his colleagues are used to handling MATLAB App Designer applications.
\paragraph{API} Regarding the surface through which clients interact with the library, the feedback is also positive but more nuanced. Many participants liked that the functions' behaviour is easy to guess from their names. The decorator syntax caused minor confusion but consulting the documentation solved the issues in all three cases. The CLI app \texttt{great-ai} was appreciated for having a close to trivial signature; the participant noted that she strives to use as few CLI commands as feasible. Surprisingly, even the practitioners with more data science background appreciated the Docker support. Nonetheless, one expert had a feature request for a configuration GUI because his colleagues are used to handling MATLAB App Designer applications.
The recurring theme of the discussions focused on the question of ``\textit{How simple is too simple?}''. The argument is that an API cannot be simpler than the domain in which it exists. More precisely, it can only be simpler at the cost of losing transparency. Let us take the example of saving models using \texttt{save\_model()}. If a project is set up correctly, it either has an initial \texttt{configure()} call to the storage provider backend, or it has an appropriately named credentials file in the project's root, for instance, \texttt{s3.ini} or \texttt{mongo.ini}. Once set up, it is trivial to use as long as we do not divert from the happy path. However, if an issue arises, such as an upgrade or migration of MongoDB, debugging the application is non-trivial for its lack of transparency.