The Great Module Debate :) [was Re: solutions.... ]
The Great Module Debate :) [was Re: solutions.... ]
- Subject: The Great Module Debate :) [was Re: solutions.... ]
- From: Mr Tea <email@hidden>
- Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2002 23:40:41 +0000
This from has at @844 on Mon, Jan 28, 2002
>
But anyway, I don't see how using mods precludes learning, and I don't see
>
how using mods is any different to using scriptable applications and osaxen
>
in any case (and those get recommended to newbies all the time).
The truth will out. These things occurred to me when I was considering my
first, unposted knee-jerk response to your 'let them eat mods' comment.
The result was that I disappeared up my own back passage trying to
justify my opposition. But then the esteemed Mr Garvey weighed in with
typically unequivocal candour, and I hitched a ride on his coat-tails.
I don't agree that using scriptable apps is in the same ballpark, though.
Having learned to drive, and built up some knowledge of how the car
functions, I don't want to also have to pave the freeway before I can go
anywhere. And with regard to osaxen (love that word), these are like the
deluxe optional extras on my AppleScript car - the sun roof of Jon's
Commands, the shiny hubcaps of Set Startup Disk, the go-faster stripes of
AppleScript Formatting... You get the idea. I don't use the big ones like
Akua and Tanaka because they just go way beyond what I need. It would be
like hefting a 30 foot trailer onto my towbar to carry a box of teabags.
Apart from that, it seems like a fair cop. Because if there's a filter or
a prefab action that does what I need in Photoshop, I'll use it. And the
same with a host of other apps. Why should applescript be any different?
Returning to the car analogy (sorry), writing a script is like planning
out a route-map. Good scripting gets you from A to B with a minimum
expenditure of time and effort. Why should I not be happy to use a set of
directions compiled by folk who know that route inside out? I guess I am.
My only wish is that the directions should be well annotated, so that I
can get back on track if I need to make a detour.
OK. Enough of that. The residual reservations I have about gleaming
libraries of AS mods & handlers are probably completely irrational.
There's something rustic and rough-hewn about the loose, DIY nature of
Applescript that's rather charming. This does not really justify a jihad
against the kind of resource that you propose, has.
>
Similarly, nobody cares one whit if 90% of an
>
osax/application's functions go unused in a task,
>
so why worry about extra, unused code in a module
I care. Those dictionaries scare me rigid.
Tea
--
"Always remember to..." etc.