[cairo] Pango AttributesList Question

[Travis Griggs]

The pango functions pango_attr_list_insert () and  
pango_attr_list_insert_before () both have documentation that states  
"It will be inserted after/before all other attributes with a matching  
start_index."

I feel kinda dumb/naive here, but I don't get what the context of  
after/before is here. I mean, the Attributes that get added, have a  
span, and can intersect/overlap already, so I'm not sure what this  
before/after sense would imply, or why I would worry about one over  
the other. Is it in case there are ambiguities in an overlap? And  
either the earliest or latest takes precedence?

TIA

--
Travis Griggs
Objologist
"The project was so plagued by politics and ego that when the  
engineers requested technical oversight, our manager hired a  
psychologist instead." -- Ron Avitzur