43 lines
1.6 KiB
Markdown
43 lines
1.6 KiB
Markdown
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# libbase
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## Who is this library for?
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This library is a collection of convenience functions to make common tasks
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easier and less error-prone.
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In this context, "error-prone" covers both "hard to do correctly" and
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"hard to do with good performance", but as a general purpose library,
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libbase's primary focus is on making it easier to do things easily and
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correctly when a compromise has to be made between "simplest API" on the
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one hand and "fastest implementation" on the other. Though obviously
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the ideal is to have both.
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## Should my routine be added?
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The intention is to cover the 80% use cases, not be all things to all users.
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If you have a routine that's really useful in your project,
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congratulations. But that doesn't mean it should be here rather than
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just in your project.
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The question for libbase is "should everyone be doing this?"/"does this
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make everyone's code cleaner/safer?". Historically we've considered the
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bar for inclusion to be "are there at least three *unrelated* projects
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that would be cleaned up by doing so".
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If your routine is actually something from a future C++ standard (that
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isn't yet in libc++), or it's widely used in another library, that helps
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show that there's precedent. Being able to say "so-and-so has used this
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API for n years" is a good way to reduce concerns about API choices.
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## Any other restrictions?
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Unlike most Android code, code in libbase has to build for Mac and
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Windows too.
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Code here is also expected to have good test coverage.
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By its nature, it's difficult to change libbase API. It's often best
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to start using your routine just in your project, and let it "graduate"
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after you're certain that the API is solid.
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