> There is no resource constraint that is so stringent that it would prevent the programmers from replacing
> displaySelectionList(matches)
> with
> displaySelectionList(matches.sorted())
> They just didn't.
It’s quite possible that it isn’t that simple. Hypothetically: if the user selects the 13th item in the list, how do you, as a programmer, know that was the 42nd in the original list, so that you can send back “42” as the selected item to the backend?
That sorting logic may have to be more complex, and, under time pressure, beyond the means of your average programmer (did matches.sorted() modify the list in place, making a linear search in it for the text of the item not work?).
> displaySelectionList(matches)
> with
> displaySelectionList(matches.sorted())
> They just didn't.
It’s quite possible that it isn’t that simple. Hypothetically: if the user selects the 13th item in the list, how do you, as a programmer, know that was the 42nd in the original list, so that you can send back “42” as the selected item to the backend?
That sorting logic may have to be more complex, and, under time pressure, beyond the means of your average programmer (did matches.sorted() modify the list in place, making a linear search in it for the text of the item not work?).