Comments on: Writing your own code vs. Plugins http://www.thewojogroup.com/2008/09/writing-your-own-code-vs-plugins/ The musings of a small creative media company. Mon, 15 Mar 2010 17:03:53 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8 hourly 1 By: PCSpectra http://www.thewojogroup.com/2008/09/writing-your-own-code-vs-plugins/#comment-215 PCSpectra Fri, 14 Nov 2008 22:17:49 +0000 http://www.thewojogroup.com/?p=160#comment-215 I think there is a genuine concern with many developers reusing code written by others. We all know code breaks, and when it does, we need to fix it (actually were expected to fix it). Relying on third party code usually means you have to wait for them to fix the problem. To make matters worse, scripting languages attract developers of all experience levels, from newbies to hardened veterans. C++ for instance, takes years before you become capable of writing reusable code (ie: Windows MFC controls) and during that time you learn a lot about programming. I was far less reluctant to reuse a Windows control I found on CodeProject than I am to reuse a class I find on PHPClasses. RoR has the benefit of being somewhat of a niche market language/tool/framework with a strong focus on design, more than PHP or Perl anyway. For that reason I rarely reuse PHP classes unless I know the developer from a particular forum and have been impressed by their insight into certain topics. Cheers, Alex I think there is a genuine concern with many developers reusing code written by others.

We all know code breaks, and when it does, we need to fix it (actually were expected to fix it). Relying on third party code usually means you have to wait for them to fix the problem.

To make matters worse, scripting languages attract developers of all experience levels, from newbies to hardened veterans.

C++ for instance, takes years before you become capable of writing reusable code (ie: Windows MFC controls) and during that time you learn a lot about programming. I was far less reluctant to reuse a Windows control I found on CodeProject than I am to reuse a class I find on PHPClasses.

RoR has the benefit of being somewhat of a niche market language/tool/framework with a strong focus on design, more than PHP or Perl anyway.

For that reason I rarely reuse PHP classes unless I know the developer from a particular forum and have been impressed by their insight into certain topics.

Cheers,
Alex

]]> By: Julian Gruber http://www.thewojogroup.com/2008/09/writing-your-own-code-vs-plugins/#comment-81 Julian Gruber Fri, 17 Oct 2008 16:46:18 +0000 http://www.thewojogroup.com/?p=160#comment-81 in the 2nd sentence, add "it's ok." :) in the 2nd sentence, add “it’s ok.” :)

]]> By: Julian Gruber http://www.thewojogroup.com/2008/09/writing-your-own-code-vs-plugins/#comment-78 Julian Gruber Fri, 17 Oct 2008 16:36:38 +0000 http://www.thewojogroup.com/?p=160#comment-78 I think it depends on the situation. If you need exactly what a plugin provides and it can save you a lot of work. But, if you only need a small part of the plugin or would have to extend the plugin, I'd write my own code. I think it depends on the situation. If you need exactly what a plugin provides and it can save you a lot of work. But, if you only need a small part of the plugin or would have to extend the plugin, I’d write my own code.

]]> By: Brett http://www.thewojogroup.com/2008/09/writing-your-own-code-vs-plugins/#comment-12 Brett Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:58:36 +0000 http://www.thewojogroup.com/?p=160#comment-12 Yeah that is a great point. I have been tentative to put any of my code into a plugin for others yet, but as soon as I finish up a couple projects I'm working on, I will definitely attempt to share some of my code with the Rails world. As of now, I'm just posting some simple things on this blog for others to use. Thanks for the input! Yeah that is a great point. I have been tentative to put any of my code into a plugin for others yet, but as soon as I finish up a couple projects I’m working on, I will definitely attempt to share some of my code with the Rails world. As of now, I’m just posting some simple things on this blog for others to use. Thanks for the input!

]]> By: Chris Heald http://www.thewojogroup.com/2008/09/writing-your-own-code-vs-plugins/#comment-11 Chris Heald Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:54:09 +0000 http://www.thewojogroup.com/?p=160#comment-11 I definitely hear you on the "roll your own" thing. I tend to have a weird mishmash of plugins in my projects, and home-grown code shoved into lib/. The really valuable stuff, though has been a) Packaging my own code into plugins suitable for consumption by others (it really makes you go over the quality of it with a fine-toothed comb!), and b) hacking up existing plugins to fit my particular project. Both have taught me a lot, and in the case of b), has let me leverage a lot of really great work without sacrificing the flexibility I need out of my code. I definitely hear you on the “roll your own” thing. I tend to have a weird mishmash of plugins in my projects, and home-grown code shoved into lib/. The really valuable stuff, though has been a) Packaging my own code into plugins suitable for consumption by others (it really makes you go over the quality of it with a fine-toothed comb!), and b) hacking up existing plugins to fit my particular project. Both have taught me a lot, and in the case of b), has let me leverage a lot of really great work without sacrificing the flexibility I need out of my code.

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