[knsv]

The problem with state machines that I run into often when using them, is "multi-dimensional" states.

When managing to get that right they are great, otherwise you get loads of edges...

[sidpatil]

I'm not sure what you mean by "multi-dimensional" states. Is it something that statecharts [1] can help with?

[1] https://statecharts.dev/

[RossBencina]

UML Statecharts are Harel Statecharts, which are hierarchical state machines. Described here:

Statecharts - A visual formalism for complex systems. David Harel. 1987

https://archive.org/details/7.-statecharts

Looks like you can also freely download the paper from here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0167642387...

[barrkel]

The cross product of multiple state machines, I expect. If you try and use a single state diagram to encode the product of states, everything multiplies.

[michaelsbradley]

That’s where statecharts can help.

[tonnydourado]

Not sure what you mean by multidimensional states?

[hwayne]

The car can be in drive, neutral, or reverse, the light can be red, green, yellow, or broken, the seatbelt can be off or on. That's 24 states.

[tonnydourado]

Ah, ok. That's kind of what I meant by upfront design, though. Yeah, mapping this out is gonna suck, but it's better than having it hidden in a bunch of ifs.