[Tfug] random squares

[Rich]

On Oct 22, 2007, at 8:32 pm, Robert Hunter wrote:

> I can almost count on the
> fact that if I need a particular functionality, that there is at least
> one package at CPAN; but even then I spend a bit of time learning the
> API for the particular package.
Therein lies the problem! Inconsistency. Some are OO, others not.  
Some are trivial convenience libs, others are hugely complex APIs. I  
think this could be solved with some kind of CPAN module rating  
system to give an idea of how far reaching and how complex a  
particular API is. For example (slightly stretched to illustrate my  
point): for simple CGI, there's no point in learning the CGI module;  
but if you're a jobbing CGI programmer, then you'd use it even for  
the most trivial tasks. The size and scope of the CGI module is  
intimidating to new users, but becomes second nature after a while.

> Great list.  Now if only there was something like CPAN for JavaScript.
I challenge you to write one in Javascript! It's a pain that the  
execution environment is the browser itself.

The best way to shake that up would be to abstract the Javascript  
engine from a browser (say, a Mozilla browser), and expose  
functionality through a native browser API that the scripting engine  
talks to. This way *other* scripting languages could be catered for.  
To prevent the kind of brain damage that is Active X, the execution  
environment would be sandboxed out of harm's way. Cookies, bookmarks,  
and everything else browser-related would be handled inside this  
sandbox.

Hm. We're here, and the original topic's way over there... sorry.

R.