Interoperability as a state of mind
By Sean McGrath
In my line of work I regularly have to deal with issues related to the interoperability of file formats. Information in format A needs to be converted to format B because application A is being replaced by application B ... That sort of thing.
In such scenarios, the first question invariably relates to file format A. Is it open or closed? Is it binary or textual? Is there an API? What coverage is provided by the API? That sort of thing. In earlier years, I used to read too much into the existence of file format documentation and the existence of plain text formats. It got me into trouble sometimes.
Read the full article here:
In my line of work I regularly have to deal with issues related to the interoperability of file formats. Information in format A needs to be converted to format B because application A is being replaced by application B ... That sort of thing.
In such scenarios, the first question invariably relates to file format A. Is it open or closed? Is it binary or textual? Is there an API? What coverage is provided by the API? That sort of thing. In earlier years, I used to read too much into the existence of file format documentation and the existence of plain text formats. It got me into trouble sometimes.
Read the full article here:
posted by ITworld Editors at 10:45 AM
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