Slashdot Mirror

Hey jeremy! Long time no see! Are you still flexing your muscle?

At my previous job, I wrote a lot of useful (to me, anyway) networking code. That code was all closed-source, owned by the company. So when I moved to my current job, I no longer had (legal) access to any of that code, and had to essentially re-write it all from scratch.

Determined not to make the same mistake twice, I got permission from my current employer to open source the re-written code. Now I am guaranteed access to it for the rest of my life, for any professional or personal project I ever do. I'll never have to re-invent this particular wheel again. (Having other people contribute free bug fixes and new features to the code on a semi-regular basis is the icing on the cake)

So there is a nice, selfish reason to write open sourced code. The code got written on company time, but because anyone can use it for anything, that means I can use it for anything. And since I wrote it, it's designed exactly the way I want it to be.

For what it's worth, I just statically link the Qt library into my app, and it works well. True, it adds a few megabytes to the executable size, but anyone can just download the .zip file, unzip it, and run the app -- there are never any problems with missing or misplaced .dll or .so files, no DLL hell (i.e. library version mismatch problems), no installer scripts, no setting of load-paths necessary. I think the gain in simplicity and improved user-experience is worth the extra download size.

Okay, here's one: Built-in constructors and destructors. You can simulate them in C using constructor- and destructor-like functions, but you'll always have to remember to call those functions at the right time, and if you don't, you'll have a bug in your program. With C++ you don't have to worry about that, they are automatically called for you at the proper time.

As an example, here is a pseudo-code snippet that I don't think you will be able to express directly in C:

ObjectRef AllocateNewObject()
{
ObjectRef objRef(new Object); // it's impossible to memory leak this Object!
return objRef;
}

Note that this function uses a nice reference-counting template class to make it practically impossible for the heap-allocated Object to be leaked, because the Object will be automatically deleted by the destructor of the last ObjectRef that points to it. ObjectRefs can be passed around and copied just like any other value type, with no need to worry about leakage.

You can do reference counting in C, but you'll have to scatter manual IncRefCount(object) and DecRefCount(object) function calls throughout your code, and chances are pretty good that you'll eventually forget one someplace and end up leaking memory anyway. Because of C++'s constructors, destructors, and templating, I haven't had a problem with memory leaks in years. I automatically get the correct behaviour every time.

I think P2P has become a blanket term for any sort of file sharing, not just those based on a true peer-to-peer network model.

My own BeShare server is client-server, for instance ....

By and large, yes... it's a symptom of the needs of applications being so varied.

(warning: blatant plug follows) For what it's worth, however, I've developed mine over the course of three years and a dozen or so projects, to the point where I think it's pretty mature and useful; it's open source, and portable to most environments, although the IETF has of course never heard of it... ;^)

1. I get to use the same code for my own 'side projects', and will get to use it even after I leave the company. I'll never have to rewrite it! :^)
   
2. Having the public see my code encourages me to keep it in tip-top shape, as a matter of pride
3. The code now functions as a public resume for my skills (better than a resume, because it is actual proof, not just my say-so)
4. Other people help me debug :^)

I realize this post mostly just reiterates the parent post, but from the opposite directions.... but I have to say, I'm very happy with the situation.

We could always create a system like this...

My thoughts on how to make mp3's kosher