[Haskell-i18n] SourceForge Project Active

[Simon Marlow]

> From: Andrew J Bromage [mailto:ajb@spamcop.net] 
> Sent: 30 August 2002 02:33
> 
> > Perhaps we should try and merge these, is there any point in having
> > multiple projects and repositories when we have 
> hierarchical libraries?
> 
> Semi-random half-baked thoughts follow.
> 
> The major problem with Haskell libraries at the moment, and one of
> the reasons why I started HFL, is that there are a lot of existing
> libraries "out there" which have nothing in common.  Naming
> schemes are inconsistent, error/exception handling is inconsistent,
> iterator support is handled in a dozen different ways and so on.

Agreed that there are lots of inconsistent libraries out there, but why
start a new project when there's already libraries@haskell.org?  Surely
this is the right point of focus for developing new libraries, and we
also have a CVS repository for the code: fptools/libraries on
cvs.haskell.org.  We also have the beginnings of guidelines for naming
conventions and coding style.

Perhaps it's because it appears that the barrier to getting one's code
into fptools/libraries is quite high.  Really, it's not that hard - the
only reasons I would actively argue against something going into
fptools/libraries are: if there is duplication of functionality between
libraries that will only serve to confuse users, or if there is
substantial disagreement about whether a particular API is the "right
thing".

I see the process of standardisation as separate; at some point after
the libraries have matured in fptools/libraries for some time, we will
standardise some of them in a Haskell 98 addendum.  This will probably
be an ongoing process, with more libraries becoming standardised as they
mature.

> I'd also like, eventually, to institute some proper unit testing, code
> auditing and peer review, particularly on anything we're proposing for
> standardisation, but this can be discussed later.

Absolutely.  Feel free to write down your ideas and we'll integrate them
into the library project documentation, such as it is:
fptools/libraries/docs/libraries.sgml, there's an online version here:

  http://www.haskell.org/~simonmar/libraries/libraries.html

Cheers,
	Simon