[Xastir] The future, how soon? B-)

[Jeff Brenton KA9VNV]

Hello WE7U,

>> A question from me; it seems that xastir and many other linux progs
>> are written in C rather than C++. Why? While I make a living from
>> MS VB, I am inspired by what you have achieved with xastir, to the
>> point where I am slowly teaching myself a 'real' programming
>> language. Doesn't C++ offer more? Are there platform, speed issues
>> or what?

CW> I tried some time back to ask for a switch to C++ or Java. It
CW> appeared to fall on deaf ears. The original app was written in C
CW> and I think most of the developers had experience in C, but not
CW> the others.

An object-oriented language has some benefits for many aspects of
Xastir and similar applications. The idea of object fits what we have
in a position report... An object named "KA9VNV-1" has attributes of
position, speed, comments, status, messages sent, source, etc. By
using a container/object/capsule/whatever instead of a C struct, you
can associate methods with those things, in an attempt to limit
colateral damage if something goes amok.

Other things don't fit the object model quite as well. Like some
programmer's minds... B-)

Personally, I've never managed to bend my brain around C++ objects,
even though I work quite well with objects in Delphi's version of
Pascal. I've built and used components for machine control in Delphi,
and have programmed in C for over a decade (text editor was my first
project, lately I do web development), but C++ just seems downright
WEIRD. And Java and I get along like, well, let's just say we're
working hard on getting Tomcat removed from our production systems
because Java has been a real impedement to getting some important
projects completed within deadline.

That said, with a well-defined interface specification, there is no
reason to designate a single language as the "standard" for Xastir 2.
There is already a Java APRS parser out there, so a Java version of
xastird has a leg up on the object-oriented future. Just as the Perl
APRS parser would give a head start to someone doing a Perl version.

Therefore, I assert that the first step towards Xastir 2.0 is to
design interfaces between the pieces.

-- 
Best regards,
 Jeff                            mailto:ka9vnv at dididahdahdidit.com