Re: File IO -- Reading Config Files Easily



On 2006-03-31, Hal Vaughan penned:
geeker87@xxxxxxxxx wrote:

Implementing that would simply be a case of opening a file, a few
readLine()s and some string splitting. Would take 5 minutes to
write -- why do you need to use an existing one?


[snip]

Why write something that's been written? And how many 5 minute
blocks of my time do I waste doing what I don't have to? I'm more
focused on developing the habit of NOT re-writing what's already
there.

The problem with spending 5 minutes rewriting an existing utility is
that it's never really 5 minutes. Oh, sure, maybe it takes 5 minutes
(I'm skeptical even on that part) to write the first draft. And maybe
it even compiles and, at first blush, appears to work. But I
guarantee that there will be bugs, and those bugs will take far more
than 5 minutes to solve.

One strong reason for using libraries is that they've been tested,
over and over, and are pretty robust. Sure, you can say, "Look, this
class that's been around for 5+ years *still* has bugs!" -- but think
of what this implies for your own code, which hasn't been refined for 5
years and hasn't been used by thousands of developers.

--
monique

Ask smart questions, get good answers:
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
.



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