[Haskell-cafe] APIs (was: Unexported functions are evil)

[Graham Klyne]

At 21:42 15/05/05 -0400, ajb at spamcop.net wrote:
>Continuing on from the previous thought, part of the problem here is that
>we teach people to write code (e.g. how to implement a sort), but we don't
>teach people to write APIs.  APIs are both trickier to get right AND are
>more important in larger programs.

I think you raise an important point.  Reading this, I realize that I have 
no principled basis for deciding what makes a good API, in any language.  I 
do, of course, have lots of personal ideas and feelings about what APIs 
should be like, but not that I could defend as coherent and rational strategy.

So I ask myself:  are there any good papers or books on this topic that 
outline a coherent and principled approach to API design?

#g


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Graham Klyne
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