On 14 Sep 2005 07:03:28 -0700, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Stefano Masini wrote: > >> There are a few ares where everybody seems to be implementing their >> own stuff over and over: logging, file handling, ordered dictionaries, >> data serialization, and maybe a few more. >> I don't know what's the ultimate problem, but I think there are 3 main >> reasons: >> 1) poor communication inside the community (mhm... arguable) >> 2) lack of a rich standard library (I heard this more than once) >> 3) python is such an easy language that the "I'll do it myself" evil >> side lying hidden inside each one of us comes up a little too often, >> and prevents from spending more time on research of what's available. > > I'd like to add one more that I haven't seen mentioned yet: ease of > maintenance and distribution. > > Whenever I decide to use someone else's package for an important > project, I need to make sure it is either maintained or looks clean > enough that I can maintain it myself. For small packages, that alone is > often more effort than writing my own.
If the licenses are compatible, you also have the option to simply steal the code and merge it into yours -- possibly cutting away the stuff you don't need. Or if not, to read and learn from it. That's another kind of reuse, which is sometimes overlooked. /Jorgen -- // Jorgen Grahn <jgrahn@ Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu \X/ algonet.se> R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn! -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list