[ANN] Log4Cocoa now on SourceForge
[ANN] Log4Cocoa now on SourceForge
- Subject: [ANN] Log4Cocoa now on SourceForge
- From: Bob Frank <email@hidden>
- Date: Mon, 7 Oct 2002 03:57:53 -0500
Hi,
Log4Cocoa is a Cocoa port of the popular Java logging package Log4J.
(This is not part of Log4OC announced last week, but I emailed them and
hope we can synchronize efforts somehow). If you're interested, please
take a look and let me know if you'd like join us as a developer. It
is now up on SourceForge:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/log4cocoa/
The source is in cvs & you can get a tarball of the source from within
CVS (I'm new to sourceforge. I'll see if I can put the tarball in the
"files" space). This is a pre-Alpha release with basic functionality.
Why should you log?* You might wonder why would you want to log when
you have gdb? Well, you might not always have easy access to gdb. I'm
not a better writer than the folks at Log4J, so go to there site (or
read the attached blurb below).
By default, Log4Cocoa tracks logging events on a per class basis,
although you can use it anyway you want (eg. based on functionality
cross-class instead of per-class). Each Logger (and Appender) can have
different levels, meaning its easy to, at run-time, turn logging
messages on from one class only, etc. You can download Log4Cocoa and
use it in a very simple way right now. Right now, only one Appender
(the Console Appender -- standard out / standard error)** and one
Layout (simple Layout)*** are working. The current working plan is:
Current Status -- Pre-Alpha:
- simple API derived port of Java version
- minimal additions of Objective-C features (note: I did take
advantage of the C preprocessor to make getting file names, method
names, and line numbers *MUCH* cheaper than in Java)
Alpha:
- add more Appenders & Layouts
- add configuration file support (right now only programatic
configuration is supported)
- start adding HeaderDoc documentation
- start working on performance issues
- make more "Cocoa-esque"
Beta:
- add a GUI configuration tool
- work on thread safety issues
- performance & memory usage tuning
- more documentation
Also, I would love to integrate OCUnit tests with Log4Cocoa, but
haven't had time yet.
Thanks,
Bob Frank
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
**Appenders are output destinations (console, files, network, SQL
databases, etc.)
*** Layouts format log messages per Appender.
* Why Log? From the Log4J web site
(
http://jakarta.apache.org/log4j/docs/index.html). This is exactly
what I would want to say:
"Inserting log statements into your code is a low-tech method for
debugging it. It may also be the only way because debuggers are not
always available or applicable. This is often the case for distributed
applications.
On the other hand, some people argue that log statements pollute source
code and decrease legibility. (We believe that the contrary is true). .
. . Given that a reasonably sized application may contain thousands of
log statements, speed is of particular importance.
With log4j it is possible to enable logging at runtime without
modifying the application binary. The log4j package is designed so that
these statements can remain in shipped code without incurring a heavy
performance cost. Logging behavior can be controlled by editing a
configuration file, without touching the application binary.
Logging equips the developer with detailed context for application
failures. On the other hand, testing provides quality assurance and
confidence in the application. Logging and testing should not be
confused. They are complementary. When logging is wisely used, it can
prove to be an essential tool.
One of the distinctive features of log4j is the notion of inheritance
in loggers. Using a logger hierarchy it is possible to control which
log statements are output at arbitrarily fine granularity but also
great ease. This helps reduce the volume of logged output and minimize
the cost of logging."
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