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> -----Original Message-----
> From: blackbox{([at]})nowhere.xy> Behalf Of Rex Couture
> Sent: Thursday, 1 June 2006 4:06 AM
> To: BlackBox Mailing List
> Subject: [BlackBox] - ASCII file handling
>
> At 03:15 AM 5/25/2006, Robert Campbell wrote:
> >People like to write their own! That way it operates as they wish
> >rather than according to someone elses 'odd' ideas of a good design.
>
> >Or am I wrong? Would a 'good' ASCII module be a real asset to the
> >community.
>
> I don't think people like to write their own, but
> they do like good design. I think they only write their own
> either if existing code is somehow unsatisfactory -- maybe
> too complicated, simplistic, or verbose. Rolling your own is
> a big waste of time, but so is using a Swiss Army module.*
>
You've hit the nail right on the head.
The main reason I might complain about not having a 'good' ASCII (or similar
general-purpose) module is when porting relatively basic programs e.g. from
POW to / from ETH Oberon to / from BB. The simple modules available (e.g.
In, Out) are too simple, but the more useful modules are too different.
Designing 'good' general-purpose libraries is a work of art. (* I did start
to write something here about the Oakwood libraries but I'll save that to
for a separate discussion *)
I wouldn't advocate continually re-inventing the wheel. However, sometimes
the effort of learning how to use a third party module, and the risk of
having to debug it when it doesn't seem to behave as you thought it should,
is greater than the effort and risk of writing your own.
Regards,
Chris Burrows
CFB Software
http://www.cfbsoftware.com
--- BlackBox
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Received on Thu Jun 01 2006 - 02:45:42 UTC