Namespacing [was: Re: [PD] ERRORS IN Pd-0.39.2-extended-test4]

Hans-Christoph Steiner hans at eds.org
Tue Jul 18 23:44:18 CEST 2006


On Jul 18, 2006, at 3:43 AM, Frank Barknecht wrote:

> Hallo,
> Mathieu Bouchard hat gesagt: // Mathieu Bouchard wrote:
>
>> On Mon, 17 Jul 2006, Frank Barknecht wrote:
>>
>>>> Classname prefixes like "list-", "gem_", "cxc_", etc. are  
>>>> deprecated
>>>> and ugly in my opinion.  Can we all agree on that at least?
>>
>> Hans, I agree that it is your opinion.
>>
>>> Not quite yet.
>>
>> More like: never.
>>
>>> But as soon as your libdir-patch is in main Pd, I would agree.
>>
>> Why?
>
> See my other mail for my reasoning. I wouldn't deprecate
> class-/filename prefixes or call them more ugly than directory
> prefixes, but in general I don't care how prefixes are implemented or
> used. My problem is with abstractions not being completely prepared
> for directory prefixes in main Pd because of help-path issues.
> Basically that's why I dropped the idea to use a directory prefix for
> rradical two years ago, the remains are here:
> http://footils.org/cms/show/22

With the libdir setup, there is a simple workaround for this problem:  
add "extra" to the help path.  It would just cause problems if there  
are help files directly in "extra", which there shouldn't be.

> However once the help-file issue is sorted out, using directories
> makes installing and moving and deleting collections of externals and
> abstractions much easier. You don't want list-abs? Just delete the
> directory. You have your own "list/*" collection? Just rename mine to
> "list-foobar" and use "list-foobar/drip". From a maintainer's point of
> view directories have a lot of advantages. But they are nothing
> special when it comes to resolving name clashes, because as I see it
> they don't do much that wouldn't be possible with file- or classname
> prefixes as well.

Supporting every layout possibility and naming scheme under the sun  
creates a lot more work.  I think we have a lot to gain by  
standardizing these things, then we can spend that effort on more  
interesting things.  If you look at the study of usability, you'll  
find that consistency is a key concept.  Pd could use a lot more  
consistency.

.hc

------------------------------------------------------------------------

"[W]e have invented the technology to eliminate scarcity, but we are  
deliberately throwing it away to benefit those who profit from  
scarcity."        -John Gilmore






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