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| Authored by: argee on Friday, May 04 2012 @ 03:26 PM EDT |
Your definition agrees with mine perfectly! But you said
it in 50 words, where my previous posting went to a lot
more. Perfect!
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argee[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
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| Authored by: rcsteiner on Friday, May 04 2012 @ 04:13 PM EDT |
Agreed. :-)
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-Rich Steiner >>>---> Mableton, GA USA
The Theorem Theorem: If If, Then Then.[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Friday, May 04 2012 @ 04:24 PM EDT |
You're trying to come up with an exhaustive list. In doing so, you've forgotten
about exceptions (sure, other languages don't have them, but Java _does_). And
yes, it is necessary to know which classes of exceptions (if any) a method
throws.
Also both input and output are optional. The RNG's seed function may take an
argument, but the function that gets a random number doesn't take any input at
all. It's even conceivable to have a function that has neither input NOR
output. Imagine a function that turns a device off, for example. Yeah, such
functions are pretty rare. Also, object types and their interfaces matter.
That's why I just say that the API encompasses all the rules which two programs
use to communicate with each other. The specifics of *what* is required for
communication depend on the language. Going into too many details just bogs us
down.
I mean, if you don't *have* exceptions in your language, they can't very well be
part of an API. But in Java? They are. The API is abstract, trying to boil it
down to a language-dependent checklist is, IMHO, more confusing than necessary.[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
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