[TYPO3-50-general] Questions about FLOW3

[privat at timohummel.com]

I'm going to break my own rules, but I'm not sure if that is a wise  
idea...well, anyways.

> One has to ask where the boundaries of (such) a framework are.
> Is it a framework for creating a CMS, a CRM, an eCommerce framework or
> is it everything of it? Trying to build an all-purpose framework is a
> bit too enthusiastic, isn't it?

Yes, that is nearly impossible. However, there is nobody who prevents  
someone to build a more specific framework on top of another one.  
Eclipse does that with excellence.

> If you start implementing Party, continue with Person, Address and
> Organization you'll probably also have to include Product, Order,
> Customer, Invoice, etc., etc. some day.
> Without a clear boundary you get lost.

It depends, I believe that the FLOW3 developers have a clear goal what  
to include and what not. Person and Address might be part of the FLOW3  
framework, but could also done in another framework (or let's call it  
addon/plugin/etc) which is required by TYPO3 later, but which is not  
part of the FLOW3 framework itself.

> Or you might create a web application only framework.
> It would deal with the issues that are needed to build a web
> application. And nothing more.

The problem is mainly to define: "What is a web application"? Is it an  
application which delivers HTML output with user interface elements to  
a webserver, or is it a bit more "universal", which supports web  
services also? My goal is to have an application framework. Thus I  
decided to go on with the JerryMouse project in order to have a  
working prototype and eventually one or more projects built on top on  
the JerryMouse framework, so that there is a real implementation to  
discuss on.

> But it's not their responsibility to lead developers to create
> "need-no-brain applications".
>
> If developers need a "pre-thought" address class for creating their
> application than that's a sad fact.

It's not a question if they need it - it's rather a question if it  
makes sense to re-invent the wheel. I've seen so many websites where  
developers were just not aware of the different types of addresses  
existing; many assume their local address scheme fits everywhere. And  
even if they are aware, it just makes no sense to re-develop a  
country-aware address object for each and every project. Common  
examples are websites from the US, where they always ask for the  
"State", which simply don't exist in Switzerland, for example. Its  
"Kanton" there. Some countries don't have ZIP codes; but you are  
required to enter a ZIP code virtually everywhere. I don't say that a  
full fledged address object needs to be in the FLOW3 core; I just want  
to illustrate the fact that there is indeed a need for such classes.

With best regards,
Timo

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