A89: About the Lib and Kernel question:
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A89: About the Lib and Kernel question:
Ok, the debate rages. Here's my two cents:
Definitions & How it Applys Here:
BIOS: Used to make the hardware look the same to the kernel, no matter
what hardware is being used. APPLICATION: None. The hardware is
essentially the same for the 89 and 92. You can think of this as the
ROM that is built into the calc.
KERNEL: Used to interface BIOS with SOFTWARE. APPLICATION: Little.
Until TI releases ROM info, we'll need a kernal to make a brute-force
method of overriding the ROM's percieved limitations. The KERNEL can be
compared to DOS on a PC(every version of windows 'has DOS' running
under, or with, it)
LIBRARIES: Collections of commonly used functions available to
programs. APPLICATION: Some. Generally, the most commonly used
functions are included in the KERNEL or BIOS. These could be compared
to DLLs that windows uses. You don't need every DLL ever made, but many
programs do share many DLLs.
My two cents:
We have two options:
Use libraries and don't use libraries.
The only way it would be feasible to use libraries is if we also made a
comittee who would approve any changes to the libraries, and ensure a
good distribution channel for them. They would ensure also that the
libraries contained only commonly used functions, and that they were
very easy and simple to use and understand. Backwards compatability is
necessary. Programmers would need make clear what libraries are needed
for their program. They would need to keep track of which version of
each library they used, and that they were using only approved
libraries.
I don't think anyone wants to volunteer to go to the trouble of doing
that, and so there's a lot of talk and no comitment. Which means that
we'll have 10-15 different ways of doing things, and it's always going
to be a headache for people to use programs and libs, and it's going to
be a headache for those who get to help those who can't do it
themselves.
If we're going to standardize, let's standardize.
Four groups need to be involved in this effort:
Operators of TICALC
Operators of TI-FILES
Developers of DOORSOS
Developers of PLUS SHELL
Each group should pick one person to work in the comittee, and act as
liason to their respective groups. Those people will also act as liason
to other users and programmers who have submissions/ideas/etc.
Otherwise it will not work. All this talk is getting us nowhere.
There. I'll step down from the soapbox now.
-Adam
adavis@baladyne.com
"We need more eunichs programmers..."
-PHB, from 'Dilbert'
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