Is it worth persevering with Macports_Framework?

[Kevin Walzer]

On 2/10/13 1:39 AM, Ian Wadham wrote:
> Should I persevere with Macports_Framework?  It's been a while since I
> worked with threads and concurrent processes and Apple's way of doing
> things, in Objective C, OS X and Xcode is all new to me.  I enjoy a challenge,
> but in this case, is it (Macports_Framework) worth the effort?  People are
> lukewarm about having a GUI for Macports anyway.  I am not, but I find
> the framework for interacting with Macports to be huge and rather daunting.

It's been my observation that as long as MacPort devs have worked on a 
GUI, they have tried to do it the hard way--writing it in Cocoa, and 
making use of MacPorts internals.

A classic Unix design pattern would limit the scope of the project to 
writing a user-friendly GUI, leaving MacPorts internals alone, and using 
the port tool as the point of contact. The GUI can drive MacPorts via 
commands to the port tool, then parse its output for its own purposes.

A lot of Cocoa devs (professional ones) mock this approach as simply 
wrapping a GUI around a command-line tool. But this approach has the 
virtue of simplicity, letting MacPorts do what it does best and letting 
the UI concentrate on providing a pleasant user experience.

--Kevin

-- 
Kevin Walzer
Code by Kevin
http://www.codebykevin.com