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7 Tips for interface design
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Writing a good library interface takes a lot of practice and thorough
understanding of the problem that the library is intended to solve.
If you design a good interface, it won't have to change often, you
won't have to keep updating documentation, and users won't have to keep
relearning how to use the library.
Here is a brief list of tips for library interface design, which may
help you in your exploits:
Plan ahead
Try to make every interface truly minimal, so that you won't need
to delete entry points very often.
Avoid interface changes
Some people love redesigning and changing entry points just for
the heck of it (note: _renaming_ a function is considered changing
an entry point). Don't be one of those people. If you must
redesign an interface, then try to leave compatibility functions
behind so that users don't need to rewrite their existing code.
Use opaque data types
The fewer data type definitions a library user has access to, the
better. If possible, design your functions to accept a generic
pointer (which you can cast to an internal data type), and provide
access functions rather than allowing the library user to directly
manipulate the data. That way, you have the freedom to change the
data structures without changing the interface.
This is essentially the same thing as using abstract data types and
inheritance in an object-oriented system.
Use header files
If you are careful to document each of your library's global
functions and variables in header files, and include them in your
library source files, then the compiler will let you know if you
make any interface changes by accident ( C header files).
Use the `static' keyword (or equivalent) whenever possible
The fewer global functions your library has, the more flexibility
you'll have in changing them. Static functions and variables may
change forms as often as you like... your users cannot access
them, so they aren't interface changes.
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* C header files How to write portable include files.
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