Re: [MacPerl] Using ' instead of :: as the package separator

[Chris Nandor <pudge@pobox.com>]

At 20.30 -0600 2000.02.28, Ken Williams wrote:
>>Needless historic relic from Perl4. StandardFile.pl is depricated in
>>favor of Mac::StandardFile, Mac::Files, and Mac::MoreFiles. In this
>>instance, the writer knows about StandardFile.pl, but is either unaware
>>of Mac::StandardFile, Mac::Files, and Mac::MoreFiles, or is either
>>untutored in their use or afraid to delve into it (due to the repeated
>>mantra posted at the bottom of all the toolbox modules (don't laugh, this
>>DOES frighten some people off!)).
>
>You mean the stuff at the top?  Absolutely, it scared the shit out of me.  Why
>do we need the "YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED" text?  Couldn't we just warn people?
>Without trying to actually *scare* them?

These modules can be dangerous.  People SHOULD be scared to the point
where, at least, they won't experiment too much without thinking things
through first.

>I found it rather elitist too, actually.

I don't see this at all.  How?

>There are hardly any docs distributed
>with the modules,

Well, not many have stepped forward to do the documentation.  Are you
volunteering?  :)

>and there's a big sign posted in them that says I'll screw up
>my computer if I try to use them.  No, thanks.  I program for recreation, but
>this doesn't sound like much fun.

Well, as John Carmack said (paraphrased), the Zen of Mac programming is in
waiting for your machine to reboot each time you do something wrong.  Mac
programming with the toolbox CAN be a lot of non-fun.  MacPerl itself
protects you from that, for the most part, until you start accessing the
toolbox.


>Keep in mind that I know lots of people use these modules and they work quite
>well, but the docs do have sort of a bristly air about them.  I've heard other
>people talk about the dearth of docs for the toolbox modules - do
>documentation
>changes need to go through the busy Matthias, or can the rest of us make
>changes (I'm unqualified myself)?

Good docs submitted will likely be included in the next release; although,
I'd check with Matthias before doing any, because I don't know what his
plans are for them.

But personally, I don't see a great need for documentation.  Inside
Macintosh is the bulk of the documentation.  You need to understand the
MacPerl interface to the toolbox -- which is documented, mostly, in MPPE
and in Toolbox.pod -- and then figure out how the functions work from IM.

I don't think it is elitist.  I think that Matthias basically saw the real
danger in using these toolbox modules, and would rather warn people about
using them rather than fend off the flames of people who corrupted their
system and lost a week's worth of work.

-- 
Chris Nandor          mailto:pudge@pobox.com         http://pudge.net/
%PGPKey = ('B76E72AD', [1024, '0824090B CE73CA10  1FF77F13 8180B6B6'])

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