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MediaWiki template syntax is ugly, clumsy inefficient and widely abused
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Description

Author: matthew.britton

Description:
I know this isn't really anything directly actionable by a developer, but I feel the need for it to be represented here on Bugzilla regardlesss.

Things like this, especially:

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Template:Str_find/logic&action=edit

which seem to take as much time to process on an eight-core top of the range server machine as a sane implementation of the same logic would take on an early 80s home computer, make me feel physically ill. I can't help but think if something isn't done soon the programming gods will kill the first-born of everyone involved with the project or something.


Version: unspecified
Severity: normal

Details

Reference
bz22872

Event Timeline

bzimport raised the priority of this task from to Low.Nov 21 2014, 11:08 PM
bzimport set Reference to bz22872.
bzimport added a subscriber: Unknown Object (MLST).

matthew.britton wrote:

Oh and lest you think I cherry-picked that one template I assure you there are thousands like it. I also hadn't realised just how bad the problem had become in the time since I stopped regularly editing articles. I remember ~2005 or so when none of these fancy template features existed... has article content really been enhanced by these changed? Barely. Has it become nigh impossible to actually edit any of these monstrosities? Definitely. Allow me to further add AAAAARGH MY EYES.

EN.WP.ST47 wrote:

While I agree that there should be a developer-led crusade involving a large number of deletions, blocks, and shootings (and maybe a /few/ new parserfunctions), this is primarily not a MediaWiki bug but a Wikimedia bug, and the Wikimedia product doesn't have a "Community" component. And since I'm not aware of any secret stockpile of admin bits and firearms, I'm afraid that crusade won't be started today. Closing wontfix.