SNIPs > Modularity is a very important principle of of proper design. It > is a lot easier to maintain 10 programs of 1,000 lines each than one > program of 10,000 lines.
This is so very true. I learned this on a mainframe. The human mind tends to become lost when there are many lines. That is why functions, subroutines, sub- subroutines and call libraries were devised. This brought in modularity as well. Incidentally, the monolithic model (the > opposite of modularity) is one of the reasons why Windows is > unreliable, and why it's so difficult for Microsoft to fix it. I read > a report last year which essentially said that Windows has grown so > big that trying to fix one part of the code is just as likely to > produce an equally destructive bug on another part of the code. > > From the customer's POV there's another reason, and that is choice. > Modularity means that you can move modules around. For example, in > Windows there is only one graphical interface. In Linux there is > Gnome, KDE, Afterstep, Sawfish, Englihtenment, Icewm, Blackfox, fvwm > and a dozen others. > > > More realistically, why would it be /bad/ to include Mozilla with > > OOo? It seems, that if we could get it integrated, that it would > > only be good. > > It depends on what you mean by "integrate". The idea of them talking > to each other through clear, software-independent interfaces is very > good. But putting them all in the same codebase would wreck > everything. Integration does not imply monolithic models. Integration > with modularity is great. Modules allows updating and testing of one module without upsetting the whole caboose. Also, at times allows the customer not to upgrade if that modules in not important too them. For some customers the concept of a database rather than individual files allowed modularity. The database could be set up with allowance for extra data later on and the main part constructed. Then the other part could be constructed. I think that is where most payrolls became integrated with other personnel functions. Modularity and a good interface not a world wide suite. Chris > > > "What functionality do we currently not have that merging OOo and > > Mozilla would provide us?" > > Groupware: calendar and email. > > This can be achieved with the "good" integration. > > Cheers, > Daniel.
