Lambda the Ultimate

User-centered-design of APIs - there's an idea.

i was expecting some discussion on naming and style, and was quite disappointed not to have seen it mentioned. (perhaps i skimmed over it.) what is the effect of using tersely named symbols, such as function names in the C stdio API, versus using verbose function names (as you'd often find in a Microsoft API)? is hungarian notation truly beneficial? (seriously -- i hate hungarian notation.)

instead, i found some discussion on API interfaces; how different kinds of programmers (three arbitrarily-defined categories: systematic, opportunistic, and pragmatic) react to different approaches to interfaces. that's interesting in and of itself, but the presentation seemed a bit anecdotal. (surprise: most API and language design decisions are based on philosophy and anecdotes rather than studies.)

* How do you decide whether you need an API for some feature at all?

* How does the "usability" of an API relate to some other design qualities such as the ease of maintaining/evolving that API?

* Who is the "end user" on slide 5, as compared to the "three main personas" on slide 3?

* What is the difference between talking about an API from the "end user perspective" as opposed to the "providers perspective"?

* What other perspectives are there? Maybe there is a "manager of end user" perspective and a "manager of provider" perspective.