From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Received: (from majordomo@localhost) by pauillac.inria.fr (8.7.6/8.7.3) id AAA30310; Thu, 29 Apr 2004 00:41:32 +0200 (MET DST) X-Authentication-Warning: pauillac.inria.fr: majordomo set sender to owner-caml-list@pauillac.inria.fr using -f Received: from concorde.inria.fr (concorde.inria.fr [192.93.2.39]) by pauillac.inria.fr (8.7.6/8.7.3) with ESMTP id AAA30289 for ; Thu, 29 Apr 2004 00:41:31 +0200 (MET DST) Received: from aomori.annexia.org (annexia.force9.co.uk [212.56.101.183]) by concorde.inria.fr (8.12.10/8.12.10) with ESMTP id i3SMfUYM010775 for ; Thu, 29 Apr 2004 00:41:30 +0200 Received: from rich by aomori.annexia.org with local (Exim 3.36 #1 (Debian)) id 1BIxkA-0007uG-00 for ; Wed, 28 Apr 2004 23:41:30 +0100 Date: Wed, 28 Apr 2004 23:41:30 +0100 To: caml-list@inria.fr Subject: Re: [Caml-list] Re: Common IO structure Message-ID: <20040428224130.GA30256@redhat.com> References: <016401c42bc4$b6438840$19b0e152@warp> <20040428.004358.45522587.yoriyuki@mbg.ocn.ne.jp> <016501c42c73$24e64b30$ef01a8c0@warp> <20040428.015800.126758722.yoriyuki@mbg.ocn.ne.jp> <408EEE3E.7050008@socialtools.net> <20040428034415.GB19564@complete.org> <40902265.9040702@socialtools.net> <20040428214442.GE10198@excelhustler.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <20040428214442.GE10198@excelhustler.com> User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.5.1+cvs20040105i From: Richard Jones X-Miltered: at concorde by Joe's j-chkmail ("http://j-chkmail.ensmp.fr")! X-Loop: caml-list@inria.fr X-Spam: no; 0.00; caml-list:01 api:01 crap:01 terrible:01 team's:01 ltd:98 caml:01 classes:03 interface:03 prototype:04 investment:94 probably:05 structure:06 indeed:06 indeed:06 Sender: owner-caml-list@pauillac.inria.fr Precedence: bulk Indeed. People are really missing the point that an API is a user interface for _programmers_. The most important thing is that it be easy, short and simple for programmers to do their job - ie. write _programs_. 'Java.io' and all its miriad of ill-conceived classes which require you to remember, recall and rewite tons of crap is a great example of a terrible _programming_ UI. So a good way to start, and indeed the way I started when thinking about mod_caml/ocamldbi, is: * What programs do people need to write? * What are they going to have to _type_ to write those programs? Let's get what you need to _type_ as short as possible, and then you probably have a good UI that _programmers_ can use. Rich. -- Richard Jones. http://www.annexia.org/ http://www.j-london.com/ Merjis Ltd. http://www.merjis.com/ - improving website return on investment 'There is a joke about American engineers and French engineers. The American team brings a prototype to the French team. The French team's response is: "Well, it works fine in practice; but how will it hold up in theory?"' ------------------- To unsubscribe, mail caml-list-request@inria.fr Archives: http://caml.inria.fr Bug reports: http://caml.inria.fr/bin/caml-bugs FAQ: http://caml.inria.fr/FAQ/ Beginner's list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ocaml_beginners