From: Dom Lachowicz (domlachowicz_at_yahoo.com)
Date: Thu Mar 11 2004 - 17:48:36 EST
--- Charles Goodwin <charlie_at_xwt.org> wrote:
> Perhaps it is time for a evaluation of whether
> AbiWord would benefit
> from being a C++ codebase instead of a C one.
You're 5 years too late :)
I think that we've benefitted greatly from a C++
codebase. I think that in the past, we benefitted
greatly from using only a subset of C++'s features.
Then again, most users of a language (be it a machine
or natural language) only use a subset of its
features, keywords, and constructs. You use what makes
sense for you to inter-operate and get bye in your
daily life.
> Having a mismatch of C and C++ just doesn't seem
> right; if you're going
> to use C++ for it's advantages in one place then why
> not apply that to
> the whole codebase.
Arguably, a language like C++ has a great many
advantages over C. We don't need to use all of C++'s
features to get some large advantage from using C++.
In fact, we intentionally only use a subset of C++ for
what are now probably moot portability concerns. 5
years ago, support for the STL, templates, exceptions,
et. al. sucked in pretty much every compiler.
SourceGear rightly viewed not using these features of
C++ as an advantage, since it grealy aided Abi's
portability at the time.
Today, the picture is a little different. Should we
re-evaluate our situation? Sure. I'm all for that.
> This is a suggestion from a C/C++ amateur who is
> unfamiliar with the
> AbiWord codebase but comfortable with development
> concepts and issues.
Dom
=====
I think the problem with the Democratic Party in general is that they've been so afraid to lose they're willing to say whatever it takes to win. And once you're willing to say whatever it takes to win, you lose. - Howard Dean
http://www.deanforamerica.com/
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