Library vs Framework (was Dr. Dobb's Python-URL!)

[Peter Decker]

On 8/16/05, Terry Hancock <hancock at anansispaceworks.com> wrote:

> Where a framework shines is when you don't really want to program
> it much at all -- you just need a tweak here and there beyond what
> it already does.  Gimp plugins are a great example of that.

I'd put it slightly differently. Where a framework really shines is
when you need to do the same thing over an over again; instead of
recoding that multiple times, the framework codes it once, and you
don't have to worry about it.

I've written several apps that need to update a database, and each one
had to do the same things: connect, grab data, create controls to
display/edit that data, validate any changes and then stuff the edited
data back into the database. I started playing with the Dabo framework
a few months ago, and it does all of that for me. I just set the
connection info, and then set a couple of properties on controls, and
the rest just works.

I'm sure others who don't like using frameworks will chime in that
they've done similar things; that they've created reusable classes
that make writing such appsmuch easier than having to rewrite the same
code time and time again. In that case, I'd contend that you've simply
created your own framework as you've gone along.
-- 

# p.d.