[android-developers] Re: Using internal Android string resources

I guess I don't uderstand what the issue is here. The public
android.R.strings package is tiny, with 22 entries, only 7-8 of which
are general purpose to the point where they are usable in an average
app. I am not sure how the other localized strings could even
concievably be used without first copying them into your own
resources. Perhaphs by hard coding the resource ID values would work,
but that seems extremely fragile and sure to break with every release
of the platform.

On Jan 23, 7:45 am, Mark Murphy <mmur...@commonsware.com> wrote:
> On Sat, Jan 22, 2011 at 5:18 PM, Bob Kerns <r...@acm.org> wrote:
> > While I (strongly) agree with this advice -- there is a major
> > downside. If you copy it into your application, and the platform
> > changes (an update, a manufacturer customization, etc.), then your
> > application's look-and-feel (including terminology) will vary from the
> > platform standard. And, in the case up upgrades, older apps will vary
> > from newer ones. The result is the user experience is less cohesive.
>
> FWIW, Google's recommendation is to aim for internal consistency
> first, then platform fidelity.
>
> Strings are particularly pernicious. For example, I seem to recall
> that the platform definition of the "yes" string is "Set", due to some
> screwball decision. If OEMs do that, then your app may be flat out
> wrong on some devices, with incorrect prompts, messages, or whatever
> the strings are used for.
>
> --
> Mark Murphy (a Commons Guy)http://commonsware.com|http://github.com/commonsguyhttp://commonsware.com/blog|http://twitter.com/commonsguy
>
> Android Training in London:http://bit.ly/smand1andhttp://bit.ly/smand2

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