> On Wed, 26 Aug 1998 11:33:42 -0300 (ADT), Kenny Freeman wrote:
>
> >
> >> I personally am rather against most import statements as they can
> >> only help to confuse the issue of what you are looking at. Even worse
> >> is import of a whole package - since then you do not even see in the
> >> code all of the possible class names that just got defined... However,
> >> if used very rarely and only when really justified, they can help
> >> reduce the typing needed and not reduce the maintainability of the code.
> >>
> >> Sorry about that, but I have had to fix code where the top of the
> >> file had import xxxx.*; import yyyy.*; etc. Basically importing every
> >> package in the whole product - almost 30 lines of these - and then
> >> trying to figure out what the DataTrack class is and which one it used -
> >> since there was a different one in three different packages...
> >>
> >> BTW - This was only one person who did this in his souce - and his
> >> code was usually the code we had to fix. But he was a contractor and
> >> did not follow our coding standards.
> >
> >Well, that is still no real argument against packages. However the
> >xxxx.whatever packages were generated, there should have been a way to
> >make things a bit less cryptic. I couldn't imagine not being able to use
> >the import statement. Things like:
> > tmp = new ken.encryption.RSA.RSAMessageDigest(....)
> > tmp2 = new ken.util.file.FileReader("blah.txt")
> >get on my nerves pretty quick. People who make bad names for packages like
> >xxxx should keep there code to themselves. Well, thats my $ 0.02
>
> No, it names were not xxxxx. I just am not in a position to explain the
> names. The names were nice, but the imports where all of the type:
>
> import ORG.junk.foo.bar.*;
> import ORG.junk.blah.foo.*;
> import ORG.junk.blah.bar.*;
>
> etc. for about 30 lines...
>
> So, the code was importing classes that it never needed or used,
> it was importing conflicting classes, and it was very hard to maintain.
> (All of his source files started with the same set of lines but none
> of them used all of the classes...)
>
> I would have liked it if the import statement could *not* have "*"
> and thus you would have to:
>
> import ORG.junk.foo.bar.TimeTrack;
> etc.
>
> This way you would always have a true listing of what you have imported
> and from where. (The "*" just is a problem.)
>
> Personally, I never use that. I have an editor that makes life easier
> and I can type rather quickly, so I have fully qualified names on all
> classes that are outside of the package that the source is in. It also
> means that when I read the code I can see instantly what package the class
> came from.)
If you publish a library of `packages' for other developers then it is a good
to use fully qualified names as a courtesy. Most of us want to avoid long
compilation times !!!
Cheers
Peter
--
Peter Pilgrim Deutsche Bank (UK) Ltd
"When the seagulls follow the trawler, it is because they think
sardines will be thrown in to the sea."
Eric Cantona commenting on his feet-first attack on
a Crystal "Ya going down" Palace supporter.
