[wp-hackers] Facebook API and WordPress Plugin Development - Insight / Best Practice

[Mike Schinkel]

On Nov 15, 2012, at 12:01 AM, Bryan Petty <bryan at ibaku.net> wrote:
> On Wed, Nov 14, 2012 at 6:19 PM, Mike Schinkel <mike at newclarity.net> wrote:
>> https://github.com/getsunrise/imperative/blob/master/imperative.php
> 
> This could be way more flexible (and less code) if it just used
> version_compare() along with uksort(). It would probably also be best
> to just require the plugin to specify the version as a second
> parameter instead of trying to parse the filename for it, the plugin
> should already know the version anyway. That way library file names
> can also go unmodified, and use vendor folder conventions that play
> nicely with version control.

Agree. Like I said, I would do it differently now that I've used it for all the reasons you state.  I was trying to make it really simple but in doing so I think I made it oversimple.  

> There is one option available to solve this issue without requiring
> any changes to core, is compatible with PHP 5.2, and doesn't require
> any modifications to the 3rd party library. Unfortunately, it involves
> building a service in front of the library in question that doesn't
> include WP in any way, which you can then interface with like any
> other external API. It can still be distributed with the plugin rather
> than relying on an external server if preferred though. The downsides
> are that this involves a slightly more complicated code architecture,
> and can become very inefficient if designed incorrectly. The upside is
> that it helps you build modular code (literally by forcing you to),
> assuming you consider this a good thing anyway.

Thanks for the, but I'm sorry, I don't follow your thoughts at all.  Do you have an example where some other platform has done this to help me understand your idea?  

-Mike