The base layer.
WHAT FOUNDATION PROVIDES
Strings, collections, dates and numbers File handling Networking Data encoding and decoding Notifications between components Formatting and localisation
WHAT DATE HANDLING REQUIRES CARE WITH
Time zones Calendars, which are not all the same Formatting, which must be locale-aware
WHAT TO NEVER DO
Format dates by joining strings.
WHAT TO USE
The formatting facilities, which handle locale correctly.
WHAT ENCODING AND DECODING PROVIDE
Converting between your types and structured formats, driven by the type itself.
WHY THAT MATTERS
It removes most manual parsing, and errors are typed.
WHAT TO HANDLE
Decoding failure, which happens when a server changes.
WHAT TO DEFINE
Custom key mappings where names differ.
WHAT MEASUREMENT AND UNIT TYPES PROVIDE
Values carrying their units, converted safely.
WHAT FILE HANDLING REQUIRES
Using the provided directory locations rather than hard-coded paths.
WHY
Paths differ between platforms and installations.
WHAT TO MARK
Files that should not be backed up.
