In math, a result is 'elegant' if it just _does_ something, simply and quickly, rather than relying on a mass of machinery done elsewhere, that you either have to assume works or spend time understanding. A large dependency can make it harder to say what, exactly, are the key lynchpins that make the result happen.
I think code is similar. Fewer dependencies is simpler, more elegant. Dropping in a chunk of code from elsewhere is not a huge deal. A class, a bit more so, a framework, more so, a framework with new overarching patterns or a new language, more so, etc. This goes further than 1st party vs 3rd party. You'll see people want to write in 'pure cocoa' or 'pure cocoa bindings'. The tradeoff is that when Cocoa (or whatever) _doesn't_ do something particularly well, using something else can easily make your code enough simpler that it offsets the complexity of using the new thing. But I think it's perfectly reasonable to use the new thing and then grouse about how Apple should make it unnecessary. :-) -Ken On Sat, Jun 7, 2008 at 7:43 AM, Jason Stephenson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Ilan Volow wrote: >> >> Back in the >> Jaguar-era when I had to write applications that made heavy use of XML and >> regular expressions, Cocoa-Java saved the day--no 3rd-party nonsense >> required. > > This in not a knock on Ilan. His mail just happens to embody an attitude > that I see quite frequently on this list, and I just feel that I have to > share my puzzlement at this negative attitude toward 3rd party frameworks. > > It seems that many on this list feel that Apple should provide everything > that the programmer needs to work on Mac OS X and that there should not be > 3rd party frameworks for much of anything. > > This attitude really, truly puzzles me because on every other platform where > I've programmed this attitude never came up in the discussion forums. It was > always just assumed that you would need to use 3rd party frameworks to get > any real work done, unless you intended to roll everything yourself. > > If you look at programming for Linux or any of the BSDs, you will definitely > need to install frameworks from 3rd parties to do any GUI programming at > all, or really any programming. After all, gcc is not produced by any of the > major distributors or developers of Linux or BSD. Heck, even on the Mac, > most of the programming frameworks are based on 3rd party frameworks > underneath. > > The same is true for Perl where many applications have a list of 3rd party > module dependencies that make Amy Winehouse look clean and sober. ;) > > The only other environment where I've programmed that this same attitude may > rear its head could be Java land, but even there that attitude does not seem > to rear its head quite so often as it seems to on this list. > > As someone who has worked on a number of 3rd party [open source and > otherwise] frameworks, I wonder where this attitude comes from in the case > of Cocoa/Mac OS X. I have some ideas, but I hesitate to share them. > > Puzzled, > Jason > _______________________________________________ > > Cocoa-dev mailing list (Cocoa-dev@lists.apple.com) > > Please do not post admin requests or moderator comments to the list. > Contact the moderators at cocoa-dev-admins(at)lists.apple.com > > Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: > http://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/cocoa-dev/kenferry%40gmail.com > > This email sent to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > _______________________________________________ Cocoa-dev mailing list (Cocoa-dev@lists.apple.com) Please do not post admin requests or moderator comments to the list. Contact the moderators at cocoa-dev-admins(at)lists.apple.com Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/cocoa-dev/archive%40mail-archive.com This email sent to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
