In this scenario, in all likeliness, well over 80% of the time, you want to get the file from the encapsulated location, and put it somewhere locally.

And that goes to the crux of this subthread.

If all a user needs to do is extract files individually or collectively from a container and place them into the filesystem--which may well be the requirement for 80% of the uses of the containers--he doesn't need to use the API!. Use the command line interface for this. You don't need to write any boilerplate code. You don't need to write any code at all!

However, if the container is being accessed via the API, then the very last place you want the results is in a file in the filesystem.

Using APIs to duplicate the work of standalone utilities is redundant, risk-prone and wasted effort. Once you arrive at that conclusion, providing APIs to that only allow that type of operation is also redundant and totally devoid of value add.

The API only becomes useful over the standalone utility if you want to further process the files (or filenames) that are being added or extracted. To that end, providing an API that allows that further (or pre-) processing is not just a "nice to have", but the only API that makes any sense.

Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error.
Lingua non convalesco, consenesco et abolesco.
Rule 1 has a caveat! -- Who broke the cabal?

In reply to Re^9: Should Modules Do I/O? by BrowserUk
in thread Should Modules Do I/O? by pboin

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