You Are in a Box
10 months ago
- #interoperability
- #software-development
- #programming-languages
- Programs tend to expand until they can handle multiple tasks, leading to stagnation.
- Switching costs between tools and languages encourage the use of a single tool for multiple purposes.
- Two ways to mitigate tool bloat: limiting growth or reducing switching costs through interoperability.
- Backwards compatibility and standardization help reduce switching costs between tools.
- Foreign Function Interfaces (FFI) allow different languages to call each other but are complex to implement.
- Unix shells enable tool composition via IPC, allowing flexible, ad-hoc program interactions.
- Structured IPC in shells like PowerShell and Nushell introduces types and structured data but lacks interop.
- RPC provides structured communication with defined interfaces but requires significant developer effort.
- Programs act as 'prisons' for data, limiting interoperability unless developers explicitly enable it.
- Vendor lock-in and lack of interoperability are pervasive issues in software tools.