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by JanezStupar 4739 days ago
Yes!

http://thedailywtf.com/Articles/Soft_Coding.aspx

If Java guys wouldn't have stuck their heads up their asses so hard, they could use something like scripting language, with the whole debugging and library stack to configure their applications instead of building byzantine XML based DSL's.

Frankly my python (code!) based config files work a lot better than similar XML based config files in Android. Except mine are debuggable and readable.

The whole point of software is that it gets changed on demand. That's why it is called SOFTware.

Edit: Or perhaps you are going to enlighten me why XML config files are not code? Then you might be able to explain where configurations cross the border of "code". Is configuring Sharepoint coding or configuring?
1 comments
altcognito 4739 days ago
Readable to who? Machine readable? Which is easier to change or debug: dependencies which are in predictable locations OR buried within your source code? Could you say the same thing about arbitrary python code? Now I have to learn the way you decided to implement what's already been done dozens of times before I even get to reading the actual logic of the application.

Also, for the record, if you're debugging the infrastructure of how objects are created, you're doing it wrong. You probably don't understand the framework you're working in.

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JanezStupar 4738 days ago
You are missing the point. I am not saying that one should make mess of his code.

I am merely saying that configuration files are code too. They need to be tested, debugged and refactored. Writing code in XML seems a retarded way to go about it. If my language would prevent me from writing configurations in itself in a sane manner, I would rather use another language with a solid toolchain for this part of the job. Than go and build my own DSL in XML of all things.

If you are of an open mind, go check how Django is configured and extended and compare it to your run of the mill enterprise framework.

And let me tell you that I did my fair share of enterprisey "configurable and extendable" framework shit. And its all a lie. You cannot make "simplified" languages that will enable you to be more "flexible" or to let amateurs to program system behavior. Always these kinds of interfaces gobble up way more developer hours than they save in the long run. Often programmers resort to writing programs that offer a sane API for writing these kinds of configs.

One should simply build a quality API and document it well.

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