[fpc-pascal]The state of FPC (was: Synapse for FPC)

[Matt Emson]

> It does, with the proviso that 'messy' is a very personal appreciation
> of our file structure. I find it logical and not confusing at all.
>
> Keep in mind that it must be cross-platform.
> Your remarks are focusing on the point of view of a single platform user.

Exactly. For the average joe user, it's single platform work that matters.
You are focusing as a FPC developer, not an end user. That is why you can't
see how unwieldy and intimidating the FPC unit structure can be if you don't
undestand it, or if you come from a Borland background.

> For multi-platform development, wading though include files is easier
> than wading through zillions of IFDEF statements: At least from the
> name of the include file (displayed by your editor) you know in what
> part you are working. Not so when working with IFDEFs.

What I was proposing was that the FPC developers can keep their own scheme,
but the end users should be presented with readable, single file units. This
would make everything more accessable to the end user.

> I think they do, because the IDE does NOT support include files, so you
simply
> cannot work with include files and enjoy the blessings of the IDE.
> I was told that for productivity reasons they do all development
> in the IDE itself, so...

That will be why there are a lot of machine generated directives for C
Builder then. They do that all by hand I guess. They at least use a master
set of VCL units from which the distro is created.

> > Remeber, just because it's easy to maintain for you, doesn't mean it's a
> > good thing for the end user. That's a fact I'm afraid.
>
> Once more, this is a matter of taste.

No, it's not. This is a matter of fact. It's also a matter of fact that many
developers focus on their own back yard, and don't bnecessarily see the
bigger picture. The end user is often ignored or worse still told they are
wrong. Kind of like now really ;-)

Matt