TagLibAmalgam: A new way to use TagLib

[Vinnie Falco]

On Wed, Apr 18, 2012 at 8:23 AM, Scott Wheeler <wheeler at kde.org> wrote:
> It's correct that you should basically never bundle the libraries on a Linux machine where TagLib is going to be
>part of the base install for most systems.  However, on Windows or OS X, it's more or less required.

The use-cases contemplated for this amalgamation are all desktop
applications, and plugins for DAW and synthesizer applications (e.g.
VST or AU plugins).

> (That said, I'm not a fan of doing things this way since it will make bug reports from anyone using this mostly
> useless

I rather doubt you'll be seeing any bug reports out of this. The vast
majority of users of this amalgamation will get it by cloning existing
code because they want to try their hand at making an audio plugin
(usually while also learning C++ programming for the first time). I
plan on wrapping the TagLib interface to make it largely idiot proof
for the bulk of use cases, which is just extracting the album name,
artist, and title.

My users are artists who come up with "a great idea for an audio
plugin", stumble their way into the development forum looking for a
programmer to help them, only to receive the cold shoulder. A subset
of them are enterprising enough to attempt to learn C++ and write the
software on their own. This is why I need to provide something that
cannot be screwed up. I'm setting the bar very low - you just need to
know how to add one source file to your project.

> and honestly wasn't a huge fan of the source uglification required to resolve the symbol conflicts.)

I hear you. Everyone has their own personal style. My preference is to
forgo the using-directives and favor unique symbols (since they can be
pattern matched).