AWCTTYPA@UIAMVS.BITNET ("David A. Lyons") (03/13/89)
>Date: Sat, 11 Mar 89 20:00:39 CST >From: Joey Schober <pnet01!gnh-starport!jschober@NOSC.MIL> >Subject: GS/OS >Well, a lot of programmers don't follow the guidelines out of >ignorance; a lot of 'em -- particularly authors of Public >Domain/ShareWare applications and DA's -- don't really have the time >or the interest to follow all the rules perfectly, and (a similar >thing) many goals in programming can be accomplished much quicker, >easier, faster, etc. using illegal entry points or whatever. Is this >good for functionality? Sometimes. But is it good for future >compatibility? Nope, unfortunately. Ugh. Lack of _time_ is no excuse at all. Programmers who don't take the time to do things in a correct way just waste the time of their _users_. Don't knock PD & Shareware stuff across the board: sure, there is _some_ low-quality stuff, and there's some high-quality stuff. My stuff follows rules when they exist. Things like Nifty List necessarily assume undocumented things like the structure of a master pointer record. If they change, I'll update Nifty List appropriately. Taking silly shortcuts & other shortsightedness is not only bad for _future_ compatibility: it's also bad for _present_ compatibility with other applications and utilities. BUY THE ADDISON-WESLEY BOOKS! GET THE TECHNOTES! READ THEM! It's usually almost as easy to do things right as to do them wrong. > Joseph F. Schober, Sysop, StarPort BBS [703/931-0947 - 3/12/2400] --David A. Lyons bitnet: awcttypa@uiamvs DAL Systems CompuServe: 72177,3233 P.O. Box 287 GEnie mail: D.LYONS2 North Liberty, IA 52317 AppleLinkPE: Dave Lyons
joseph@elbereth.rutgers.edu (Seymour Joseph) (03/15/89)
I agree, stop knocking PD and shareware stuff. Heck, if it doesn't work, I just don't use it and its easy to get my money back if I haven't paid for it :-) What burns me is software from commercial sources such as Claris, that doesn't function properly. The spell checker and thesaurus in Multiscribe GS version 3.01 STILL don't work right under GS/OS. Any attempt to add a word to the user dictionary corrupts the dictionary. These are the real culprits, these people are paid to take the time to do it right. They are supposed to be professionals. Stop bashing hobbyists. Lets put some pressure where it belongs, on the commercial software vendors that are continuing to sell and not support incompatible software!
rat@madnix.UUCP (David Douthitt) (03/19/89)
In article <8903121951.aa07292@SMOKE.BRL.MIL> AWCTTYPA@UIAMVS.BITNET ("David A. Lyons") writes: | | Well, a lot of programmers don't follow the guidelines out of | | ignorance; a lot of 'em -- particularly authors of Public | | Domain/ShareWare applications and DA's -- don't really have the time | | or the interest to follow all the rules perfectly, and (a similar | | thing) many goals in programming can be accomplished much quicker, | | easier, faster, etc. using illegal entry points or whatever. Is this | | good for functionality? Sometimes. But is it good for future | | compatibility? Nope, unfortunately. | | Ugh. Lack of _time_ is no excuse at all. Programmers who don't | take the time to do things in a correct way just waste the time of | their _users_. | | Don't knock PD & Shareware stuff across the board: sure, there is | _some_ low-quality stuff, and there's some high-quality stuff. My | stuff follows rules when they exist. Things like Nifty List | necessarily assume undocumented things like the structure of a | master pointer record. If they change, I'll update Nifty List | appropriately. | | Taking silly shortcuts & other shortsightedness is not only bad for | _future_ compatibility: it's also bad for _present_ compatibility | with other applications and utilities. I would maintain that following ALL guidelines is not necessarily a good thing. I have been appalled by the low quality of ROM code for quite a while. ROM calls are routinely circumvented to improve speed and simplify programming. Perhaps all we need is someone to rewrite the ROMs. I would agree however, that in a tight-nit system such as GS/OS and the Macintosh MFS compatibility guidelines are mandatory. Yet, under Prodos and Prodos-16, I would maintain that the ROMs are worth avoiding - so write to the 80-column screen directly, write to the ACIA directly - read the keyboard directly - most average programmers can improve on these somehow, someway. [david] -- ======== David Douthitt :::: Madison, WI :::: The Stainless Steel Rat ======== FidoNet: 1:121/2 ::::: WittiNet: "Curiouser and curiouser, said Alice." :::::: UseNet: ...{rutgers|ucbvax|harvard}!uwvax!astroatc!nicmad!madnix!rat ArpaNet: madnix!rat@cs.wisc.edu {decvax|att}!