Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!munnari.oz.au!metro!macuni!mqccsunc!ifarqhar
From: ifarqhar@mqccsunc.mqcc.mq.oz.au (Ian Farquhar)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Objective C is a Kludge ( was Re: An Intuition.device? )
Message-ID: <522@macuni.mqcc.mq.oz>
Date: 16 Sep 90 15:15:31 GMT
References: <90255.124203UH2@psuvm.psu.edu> <385@public.BTR.COM> <1990Sep14.091728.10447@evax.arl.utexas.edu>
Sender: news@macuni.mqcc.mq.oz
Organization: Macquarie University, Sydney
Lines: 44

In article <1990Sep14.091728.10447@evax.arl.utexas.edu> hill@evax.arl.utexas.edu (Col. Ames and Pixel) writes:
>    I vote we trash C, C++,Ob-C (OB-Gyn's brother) and Power Windows/IB 
>tools and go for Resources like exist in OS/2 and the Mac. With that a "User
>Interface" paint program becomes piece of cake.
>
>    This would probably have to wait till CBM comes out the "incompatible" OS 
>release since it is linked into the executable. If done properly one could add
>as much as you want in this area, since all external references are resolved by
>the linker.
>  
>    What do the rest of you think of this??? 

Resource scripts, it seems to me, have a good side and a down side.

The down side is that a resource script requires a (hopefully) small
amount of time to interpret, and thus is a source of inefficiency.  I
would hope that the standard C interface would be maintained, with the
resource manager (presumably part of the asl.library) as an additional
shell over it.

The argument that they ease programming does not stand close
examination.  Tools for generating interfaces can be quite efficiently
written without resource scripts, and a decently designed one could read
its own code back again.

In fact, the only convincing reason I can see for resource scripts is
that it would allow an editor to manipulate the look of the program.  I
am so sick of those dog-ugly amiga programs (I could name a few), and if
I could get in there with a resource editor (such as the excellent
resedit on the Mac), I could certainly do things to improve this.

However, as a programmer, supporting such a system would be difficult.
Who would want to support a product where the inexperienced user could
remove important menu items or buttons, or where rogue copies of these
cutomised programs could be distributed?

This is a very interesting discussion about which I would like
to hear other opinions.

--
Ian Farquhar                      Phone : 61 2 805-7420
Office of Computing Services      Fax   : 61 2 805-7433
Macquarie University  NSW  2109   Also  : 61 2 805-7205
Australia                         EMail : ifarqhar@mqccsuna.mqcc.mq.oz.au