Substance and Form
When it comes to the art of omission, one must first understand that it is a delicate balance between substance and form.
Substance, in this case, refers to the actual work or task at hand. Form, however, refers to the carefully crafted excuses and diversions one employs to avoid said task.
For example, a substance-filled task might look something like this:
public void doWork() {
Console.WriteLine("I'm working on it...");
// actual work goes here
}
But a form-filled excuse for not doing said work might look something like this:
public void doExcuse() {
Console.WriteLine("I'm working on it...");
Thread.Sleep(1000); // simulate time passing
Console.WriteLine("I'm still working on it...");
Thread.Sleep(1000); // simulate more time passing
Console.WriteLine("I'm still working on it...");
return; // actually do nothing
}
As you can see, form can greatly outweigh substance when it comes to the art of omission.
Real-World Example
A real-world example of this principle in action can be seen in the following diagram:
