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From: rick@uwmacc.UUCP (the absurdist)
Newsgroups: net.micro.mac,net.micro.amiga,net.micro.atari
Subject: Re: Portability of Mac Source
Message-ID: <1768@uwmacc.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 6-Dec-85 18:11:04 EST
Article-I.D.: uwmacc.1768
Posted: Fri Dec  6 18:11:04 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 8-Dec-85 03:24:35 EST
References: <6679@boring.UUCP> <25500120@ISM780B.UUCP> <452@graffiti.UUCP> <330@mmm.UUCP> <471@graffiti.UUCP> <284@yetti.UUCP>
Reply-To: rick@uwmacc.UUCP (Rick Keir)
Organization: UWisconsin-Madison Academic Comp Center
Lines: 28
Xref: watmath net.micro.mac:3720 net.micro.amiga:1015 net.micro.atari:1909

[ dropped from the net.lang.c distribution, since this is not a 
  specifically  C language issue ]

In article <284@yetti.UUCP> oz@yetti.UUCP (Ozan Yigit) writes:
>	Perhaps it is safe to say that some MAC programmers worry more
>	about how the program *looks* rather than what it *does*. SIGH.
>	And I thought the advancement of systems like MAC would clear
>	away all the interface blues, and let people concentrate more on
>	the *functionality*.

Almost any source I have seen has function mixed w/interface all over it.
Not just on the Mac -- look at Unix sources.  It's possible to call
a separate module everytime you need to handle an exception, do i/o,
or whatever -- but very few people bother.  (Quick, what was the last
major C program you wrote where every call to a routine from section III
of the manual was separate?  No forks, etc.?) 
	Sure, portability is desirable.  But most people are aiming at a
specific target, and why should they make their code more complex and
fragile to support a machine they are not interested in?  
	Something that escapes most mainframe-oriented people is that it is often
nearly impossible to get tech support (even manuals!) w/o buying software
to go with it.  Even IF someone wanted to write for Apple's Toolbox, 
Atari's Gem, and Amiga's Intuition interfaces, they'd face major problems
in finding out how to write/support software on a second and third machine.
This discussion is about what people do for *FREE*, after all.
-- 
Rick Keir -- right next to the Oyster Tank -- UWisc - Madison
{allegra, ihnp4, seismo}!uwvax!uwmacc!rick