Wednesday June 15, 2005
Wednesday June 15, 2005
Where did the name "Struts" originate?
Not necessarily a question that keeps me up at night, but something that I've wondered about once or twice is: "Where did the name 'Struts' originate?" It seems that others have wondered about the same thing. Craig McClanahan, the original author of Struts, provides the answer (here):
It originally came from a strong memory from when I had a house built -- there were struts all over the place holding things up. Thus, the idea of a framework that 'holds everything up' but is itself invisible was born...
He expands on it a bit more (here):
I was originally toying with the concept of building a "framework", and the
first thing contractors do when building a bridge or a house is put up the
supporting infrastructure that lets you build what you really want to build,
and stays out of the way other than that. In addition, "struts" are often
constructed inside structures like an airplane wing -- invisible but vital.
Finally, the "s" on the end signifies that Struts is a toolkit from which you
can use what you need. I didn't want to create a framework that required you
to use all of it, although the parts will certainly work with more synergy
together than separately.
So I am using Struts as a noun, not a verb :-)
Now if that isn't "from the horse's mouth", then I don't know what is. Still, I prefer the interpretation to which the quote above is a response -- someone called Christophe Thiebaud suggests (here) that it might relate to the famous quote from Macbeth:
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more; it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
Not sure if Struts is a tale told by an idiot (since I don't know Craig McClanahan, but can only assume he's an intelligent person), but whether or not it is "full of sound and fury" is something I'll be able to find out soon -- because NetBeans IDE will support Struts straight out of the box! (To see how to set it up for NetBeans IDE 4.0 and 4.1, go here.)
Jun 15 2005, 01:32:25 AM PDT Permalink
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