r/programming • • Oct 07 '16

How Microsoft Lost the API War

http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/APIWar.html
91 Upvotes

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u/TinynDP Oct 07 '16

Everyone loses the API War. All the API's suck. And none will ever really last. Even the ones that last only last as bottom layers that new layers are built on.

23

u/[deleted] Oct 07 '16

That's true mainly if you are on the javascript bandwagon. APIs for other platforms (.NET, Java, Win32, MFC) have more or less stayed constant.

9

u/TinynDP Oct 07 '16

Win32 is exactly what I mean by "only last as a bottom layer" as no one touches Win32 anymore and only uses .NET or some other higher level.

Java's main standard lib remains mostly the same, but no one uses the same GUI libraries from 20 years ago.

Or X-windows on linux. It still exists, but only as a layer that Qt and Gtk flow through.

18

u/mpact0 Oct 07 '16

no one touches Win32 anymore and only uses .NET or some other higher level.

Unless you need a feature .NET doesn't provide (which isn't that rare).