Re: gEDA-user: gEDA programming

[Peter Clifton <pcjc2@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Fri, 2010-04-23 at 11:31 -0400, Dave McGuire wrote:

> > There
> > is nothing worse than an "optimised" parser looping over memory with
> > constructs like if (*i++ == '(') ... or some such.
> 
>    Is this why GTK apps tend to be so unbelievably bloated?
> 
>    I mean, I see (and like!) the value of such an approach, but  
> surely you see the disadvantage.

Sometimes these tetechniques are beneficial, but in a GUI app (not in a
time-critical path) they can provide a bigger detraction in terms of
code clarity.

PCB has had a number of bugs where pointer arithmetic featured in
home-brewed string parsers, and missed "corner" cases such as walking
off the end of a string with certain inputs. This sort of "old-school"
C-code is difficult to get right, and can be difficult to debug when
they are causing issues.

Unless code is in a critical path, it is often better to use higher
level APIs which someone else has done the leg-work of getting correct,
and maintaining. (Perhaps coded in a highly efficient way). 

Many people would argue C / C++ is the wrong language to write a GUI in
in the first place. Python etc.. allows you to be much more expressive,
and focus your time where it matters. I say using higher level APIs in C
is a decent compromise.

-- 
Peter Clifton

Electrical Engineering Division,
Engineering Department,
University of Cambridge,
9, JJ Thomson Avenue,
Cambridge
CB3 0FA

Tel: +44 (0)7729 980173 - (No signal in the lab!)
Tel: +44 (0)1223 748328 - (Shared lab phone, ask for me)



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