for a new project should you do it with open-source or start from scratch?
jcoder
oscommerce,etc. what is most advisable if you have a new project
should you go for open source or create the project from scratch?
you input pls....
macca
little). It depends on several things, functionality, your budget,
time frame, skill set etc
If you intend to sell your work afterwards, bear in mind that you can,
but your code should also be made freely available. Thats the nature
of open source. But I'm sure you know this.
On the other hand, why reinvent the wheel when you don't have to? If
there are open source projects available that already meet most of
your needs and will be suitable with a little tweeking, then OS can
save a lot of time and money.There is also a lot of OS code available
on the PEAR http://pear.php.net website that can be useful.
Good luck.
jcoder
My Pet Programmer
> starting from scratch..perhaps for better control. easy to maintain.
Adding to that:
- less links in the chain of possible breakpoints (subitem of both above)
- syntactic choice in naming
- performance tuning to your own specifications, rather than those of
an unknown entity.
- configuration issues
- unintended consequences - without reading through every single line
of code in the open source code, you can't know what it does to session,
other parts of your code/objects, or how it handles SQL queries/Ajax
calls, etc.
- lack of bloat - You can spend a lot of time trimming down someone
else's code for your own ends and removing extraneous bits (which may or
may not break it), or write your own.
IMHO, of course.
~A!
--
Anthony Levensalor
ant...@mypetprogrammer.com
The Natural Philosopher
its all known and controlled stuff.
The Natural Philosopher
> save time by customising someone else's code, I've failed. Other
> people's code always seems to be designed to a non-intuitive
> model, badly commented, fragile, and with unnecessary couplings
> that are fiendishly difficult to unravel.
>
> I've found that, if I can use someone else's code without
> changing it, I'm ahead. But if it wants modifying to meet my
> needs, I'm generally better off writing from scratch.
Well I have to say I symnpathise,..but in specific case it can work well.
If there is merely one bug to fix ore one small feature to add, its good.
Otherwise, yes, by and large after many years of experience,I have come
to the general conclusion that its shorter to rewrite it, using the
IDEAS of someone else's code. Not the code itself. And lifting the
better written chunks in toto.
In other words. flagrant plagiarization,rather than adaptation, is the
name of the game.
NC
First of all, there are three options, not two:
1. Code from scratch
2. Code from scratch using a third-party foundation library or
framework
3. Implement (and possibly extend) an open-source application
In my opinion, you should choose option 3 when the open-source
application closely matches the needs of the project and there are
time and/or budget constraints. For example, if you want to put
together a community site and you have a week to do it, you should
consider Drupal. (Not to mention situations where you need to deploy
a blog in two hours; try beating WordPress under those
circumstances...)
The choice between 1 and 2 is largely personal; use of third-party
tools can increase your productivity only if you understand them
well. On the other hand, some third-party tools can increase
programmer's productivity by using techniques hindering the
application's performance, so, again, you need to understand the way
those tools work...
Cheers,
NC
jturner
> Now that's a very open question (no pun intended...well maybe a
> little). It depends on several things, functionality,yourbudget,
> time frame, skill set etc
>
> butyourcodeshould also be made freely available. Thats the nature
> of opensource. But I'm sure you know this.
>
> On the other hand, why reinvent the wheel when you don't have to? If
> save a lot of time and money.There is also a lot of OScodeavailable
>
> Good luck.
For small solutions, I would recommend http://www.spikesolutions.net