Is the brain doing extra work to spin things? Is it harder to read text written at 45 degrees than text that's horizontal?
Reading is not always the same thing as understanding. I try to see things as 3D in my head, and I think this is often a better fit for complex systems. Even though it may be "quicker" to read something without depth, I'm not convinced everyone will absorb the concept as completely with more shallow representations. That's just my opinion based on my experiences, though.
Personally, the 2D "stack" block diagrams never really resonated with me. I always felt I wasn't quite getting the intention of dependencies or separation. I'm not saying the Cocoa Dev Centrals diagrams are all things to all people, but they make more sense to me than many 2D conventional diagrams. My general approach is to make things I like and then I'm pleasantly surprised if other people like them too.
by Scott Stevenson — Jun 12
Reading is not always the same thing as understanding. I try to see things as 3D in my head, and I think this is often a better fit for complex systems. Even though it may be "quicker" to read something without depth, I'm not convinced everyone will absorb the concept as completely with more shallow representations. That's just my opinion based on my experiences, though.
Personally, the 2D "stack" block diagrams never really resonated with me. I always felt I wasn't quite getting the intention of dependencies or separation. I'm not saying the Cocoa Dev Centrals diagrams are all things to all people, but they make more sense to me than many 2D conventional diagrams. My general approach is to make things I like and then I'm pleasantly surprised if other people like them too.