Re: Standard Library Interest?

[Marin David Condic <nobody@noplace.com>]

I put a list of things I thought might make good topics for a library 
into the Ada Letters article I wrote. You might want to look at that.

At this stage, I'd say that the only important thing is to start 
capturing ideas about what kinds of things *might* be good fodder for 
the CAL. Your list got a little too specific and as I have said 
elsewhere, I don't think much of bindings and I like less the idea of 
grabbing existing things from the Internet and trying to cobble them 
into a "Library". (Think about "why": If you had a dozen different 
existing libraries, what are the odds that they are using a dozen 
different container libraries? If the CAL has a container library, you 
would like everything else in the CAL to use *that* library - especially 
as it relates to interfaces the end user has to program to.)

You're simply brainstorming here - that should be the goal. Think about 
packages or objects or subsystems you'd like to see. Don't worry about 
structure or trees or names - just get down concepts. (e.g. "I think it 
would be cool if in some way, some how, the CAL had a package or 
subsystem that let me parse XML files and build/maintain an XML DOM.") 
Don't worry about specifics and especially don't worry about 
incorporating specific existing libraries. Just get down "Requirements" 
and "Good Ideas" in a very general way.

The reason is this: To do this right, you're not going to rush off and 
start hacking out code. You're going to ask the vendors and some 
potential customers what it is that *THEY* want to see in a library. You 
want to get *THEIR* lists of stuff. You might then hand them your list 
and say, "Is there anything in there that blows your skirt up? If so, 
what would *YOUR* priorities be?" Let the *customer* tell you what they 
want built.

You've got limited resources and you want to build the things that the 
end users really want rather than waste your time putting things in that 
nobody wants to use. The best source for finding that out is to ask the 
vendors and their customers. Do some market research. It will pay in the 
end. After that, write some *requirements*. That will pay off too. By 
the time you've got some requirements, you'll be able to evaluate your 
ideas and existing libraries to see if they meet them. It will keep you 
from wasting lots of time in the end.

MDC


Stephane Richard wrote:
> By the way, regardless of licensing, have you looked at the first draft?
> what do you think?
> 


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Marin David Condic
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