Qualities
Publisher Summary
This chapter describes the basic qualities of a good API. Most developers would agree that a good API should be elegantly designed but still highly usable. Every API is different; however, there are certain qualities that promote high-quality API design and should be adhered to whenever possible, as well as many that make for poor designs that should be avoided. There are no absolutes in API design: one cannot apply a fixed set of rules to every situation. The chapter concentrates on generic, language-neutral qualities of an API, such as information hiding, consistency, and loose coupling. It provides a C++ context for each of these concepts, but overall the advice should be useful whether working on a C++, ...
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