Richard Gaskin wrote:
PS: For a fun take on the flipside of frameworks, this post at Joel is a
hoot:
<http://discuss.joelonsoftware.com/default.asp?joel.3.219431.12>
Ha! Great stuff, really!
Further down the page the author (IMO) does a great job of
differentiating libraries vs frameworks. He states:
"I'd like to address the notion of using a framework vs. rolling your
own framework.
I think it's a false dichotomy; I don't want to use any framework at all.
I know what several of you are thinking. I'd be out of my mind not to
use some sort of framework. Am I honestly thinking of writing every
single line of code that I'll need all on my own?
No, of course not.
What I'd really like to find are some appropriate *libraries* that I can
use to provide several kinds of functionality for my project. Here's
what I need:
* A library to use as a templating system for the presentation tier of
my application. This API should be dirt simple.
* A library to use as a content repository (articles, essays, etc).
* A library providing a user-management API, for creating, editing, and
deleting users, and assigning them different privileges.
* A library providing a threaded discussion forum API. This code should
have *no* front-end gui. It should just provide an API of forum-related
services that I'll need in building my webapp. I'll build my own JSP GUI
on top of it.
* A library providing multi-user blogging capabilities.
Why is it so difficult to find simple libraries that provide these kinds
of services?
The distinction between a library and a framework is subtle, but I think
critical. A library is a collection of code that I don't have to write
myself. It provides me with a set of objects and methods that I can use
to build me application. If the library doesn't do quite what I want, I
can make some small modifications or throw it away and use a different
library.
A framework, on the other hand, always attempts to redefine the entire
applilcation architecture. And, if the framework ends up not meeting my
needs, I need to throw away my entire application, because everything
I've written is defined in terms of the framework's methodology.
A library is something *contained* within my code.
A framework is a *container* for my application."
Interesting distinction...
-Chipp
_______________________________________________
use-revolution mailing list
[email protected]
Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your subscription
preferences:
http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-revolution
