Fwd: CoreDate (was: [Biococoa-dev] WWDC2005)

[Alexander Griekspoor]

> One thing that we have to be aware of is that If we introduce 
> CoreData, the framework will be 10.4 only. But of course I am 
> interested to learn more about CoreData as well ;-)

Yep, I didn't want to bring it all up at once, but the discussion would 
come anyway like the one on GNUstep support: what do we want? I think 
we all agree we don't want the framework to be 10.4 only. I am strongly 
in favour to have a 10.4 version though that adds the nice new things 
from tiger, most prominently core data support (though not a prime 
target right now). It should be possible to have a kind of extension 
that will build in a 10.4 only framework on top of the basic one, or 
not?

Then the discussion I was talking about, 10.2 support.
First the view on our personal programs.
We basically intend to support down to [current release] minus one. So 
currently all our programs run on 10.2 or higher. But with Tiger coming 
that will shift to 10.3 or higher. The reason is simple, first I want 
to simply use those nifty features in panther, second I want to get rid 
of those annoying 10.2 bugs and the fact our programs run slower, 
finally (most important factor) my development machine runs the latest 
OS and I don't have an Apple Compatibility Lab to test it all. Also, I 
think (might be wrong here) that by now 90% of the people run 10.3. So 
with the coming of 10.4 I have decided to no longer go for 10.2 unless 
my older programs don't need 10.3 per se, than it comes for free.

Now I strongly argue in favor of lifting the BioCocoa framework minimum 
requirements to 10.3 or higher for the following reasons:
- first, the same reasons as above
- second, 10.3 is considered to be the first really "mature" MacOSX 
version (think in terms of speed and bugs)
- third, we can support bindings, this will be the basis for all future 
cocoa apps and 10.3 supports the minimum you need, missing this is huge 
in my opinion, even if we all haven't really used it because of 10.2 
support of our current programs.
- fourth, we get a number of additional stuff which is not critical but 
very nice: NSXML, Webkit installed by default, etc
- finally, it allows to do the 10.3 / 10.4 version of the framework, 
10.2 and 10.4 will differ so dramatically that it won't make sense, but 
with 10.3/10.4 it should be possible (think again to the lack of 
bindings in 10.2)

Now remember, no one has made any app yet with the new framework, and 
that's perhaps the most strongest argument. I think everyone who will 
start coding a completely new app today will make it 10.3 or higher, so 
why make it 10.2 compatible. A practical example: I plan to upgrade 
EnzymeX and 4Peaks to use the biococoa framework for all its sequence 
handling the moment we come to a stable version. Do I need 10.2 
support, no because I won't support it anyway anymore, the current 
versions are stable and will run on 10.2 forever, but if you want a new 
update for 4Peaks or EnzymeX you need Panther, that's fair by now in my 
opinion.

Let me know what you think and chime in if I overlooked a big reason to 
support 10.3.
Cheers,
Alex


*********************************************************
                     ** Alexander Griekspoor **
*********************************************************
               The Netherlands Cancer Institute
               Department of Tumorbiology (H4)
          Plesmanlaan 121, 1066 CX, Amsterdam
                   Tel:  + 31 20 - 512 2023
                   Fax:  + 31 20 - 512 2029
                   AIM: mekentosj at mac.com
                   E-mail: a.griekspoor at nki.nl
               Web: http://www.mekentosj.com

                             iRNAi, do you?
              http://www.mekentosj.com/irnai

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*********************************************************
                     ** Alexander Griekspoor **
*********************************************************
               The Netherlands Cancer Institute
               Department of Tumorbiology (H4)
          Plesmanlaan 121, 1066 CX, Amsterdam
                     Tel:  + 31 20 - 512 2023
                     Fax:  + 31 20 - 512 2029
                     AIM: mekentosj at mac.com
                     E-mail: a.griekspoor at nki.nl
                 Web: http://www.mekentosj.com

Windows is a 32-bit patch to a 16-bit shell for an 8-bit
operating system, written for a 4-bit processor by a 2-
bit company without 1 bit of sense.

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