> From: Stephen Tetley <stephen.tet...@gmail.com> > > Hello all > > While new libraries develop at pace, their documentation rarely does; > so I'd have to disagree with John's claim that re-naming libraries > makes development by new users harder. I'd argue that having tutorials > not work for later revisions is more confusing than having various > packages doing the same thing. I'd also contend that beginners are > better off lagging behind the cutting edge and using Parsec 2, > QuickCheck 1, Haskore-vintage, as the earlier version all have > comprehensive documentation - Parsec 2 and Haskore have extensive > manual/tutorials, QuickCheck 1 was small enough that the original > QuickCheck paper covered its use.
Lagging behind the cutting edge is one thing, but learning possibly-deprecated or soon-to-be-obsolete interfaces is another. I would contend that in each case the intention is for the earlier version to be superseded because of significant (hopefully user-driven) benefits provided by the new design. Now beginners are in the very frustrating situation of having invested time with a codebase that they learn is obsolete. Depending on the significance of the changes, some amount of that knowledge can be carried forward, but it's a disheartening position to be in and I would expect a few could give up entirely at that point. I think that's worse than floundering around with no documentation at all. Of course a better solution is for maintainers to update their manuals! > > An advantage of separate names (both for the package name and module > name-space) is that its easier to have both packages installed at the > same time - the old one to work with while learning the package, the > new one if other installed packages depend on it. This can still be > done with package-hiding but its less straight-forward. With proper .cabal files and dependency bounds this isn't an issue. If you're working in ghci I think it's the same amount of work either way, at least with my workflow. _______________________________________________ Haskell-Cafe mailing list Haskell-Cafe@haskell.org http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/haskell-cafe
