Professional C__ - Marc Gregoire [33]
Interestingly, even using libraries from within your own organization can introduce support issues. You may find it just as difficult to convince a coworker in another part of your company to fix a bug in his or her library as you would to convince a stranger in another company to do the equivalent. In fact, you may even find it harder, because you’re not a paying customer. Make sure that you understand the politics and organizational issues within your own organization before using internal libraries.
Know Where to Find Help
Using libraries and frameworks can sometimes be daunting at first. Fortunately, there are many avenues of support available. First of all, consult the documentation that accompanies the library. If the library is widely used, such as the standard template library (STL), or the MFC, you should be able to find a good book on the topic. In fact, for help with the STL, consult Chapters 11 to 17 of this book. If you have specific questions not addressed by books and product documentation, try searching the web. Type your question in your search engine of choice to find web pages that discuss the library. For example, when you search for the phrase “introduction to C++ STL” you will find several hundred websites about C++ and the STL. Also, many websites contain their own private newsgroups or forums on specific topics for which you can register.
A note of caution: Don’t believe everything you read on the web! Web pages do not necessarily undergo the same review process as printed books and documentation, and may contain inaccuracies.
Prototype
When you first sit down with a new library or framework, it is often a good idea to write a quick prototype. Trying out the code is the best way to familiarize yourself with the library’s capabilities. You should consider experimenting with the library even before you tackle your program design so that you are intimately familiar with the library’s capabilities and limitations. This empirical testing will allow you to determine the performance characteristics of the library as well.
Even if your prototype application looks nothing like your final application, time spent prototyping is not a waste. Don’t feel compelled to write a prototype of your actual application. Write a dummy program that just tests the library capabilities you want to use. The point is only to familiarize yourself with the library.
Due to time constraints, programmers sometimes find their prototypes morphing into the final product. If you have hacked together a prototype that is insufficient as the basis for the final product, make sure that it doesn’t get used that way.
Bundling Third-Party Applications
Your project might include multiple applications. Perhaps you need a web server front end to support your new e-commerce infrastructure. It is possible to bundle third-party applications, such as a web server, with your software. This approach takes code reuse to the extreme in that you reuse entire applications. However, most of the caveats and guidelines for using libraries apply to bundling third-party applications as well. Specifically, make sure that you understand the legality and licensing ramifications of your decision.
Consult a legal expert whose specialty is Intellectual Property before bundling third-party applications with your software distributions.
Also, the support issue becomes more complex. If customers encounter a problem with your bundled web server, should they contact you or the web server vendor? Make sure that you resolve this issue before you release the software.
Open-Source Libraries
Open-source libraries are an increasingly popular class of reusable code. The general meaning of open-source is that the source code is available for anyone to look at. There are formal definitions and legal rules about including source