From: Paul Lutus <nospam@...>
Date: 2006-12-12T06:35:07+09:00
Subject: Re: format problem

chen li wrote:

>> Problem: The library 'pp' cannot produce the result
>> you want.
>> 
>> Solution: don't use 'pp'. Instead, write an
>> additional line of code.
> 
> But how to explain it works when the column number is
> less than 10? Is it a bug for 'pp' library?

Libraries are meant to save your time as a software developer, as well as
offer a more reliable, predictable, repeatable solution to software design
problems.

But when a library does not offer any of these advantages, IMHO the best
thing to do is abandon the library and move on.

I have always felt that, once a library requires more time than hand-coding
a solution, it has lost its right to waste any more of my time.

And it is astonishing to me how often libraries, designed to save
programmers' time, end up eating it instead.

This principle is especially potent with Ruby, where it is very easy to
solve problems by writing a few lines of code, code you can still
understand months or years later.

Not to pontificate here, but ... when a library -- the "easy way" -- takes
more time to use than hand coding -- the "hard way" -- the library loses
its right to exist.

These are just my opinions, reasonable people can and will differ.

-- 
Paul Lutus
http://www.arachnoid.com