Best practices for creating libraries that use .NET namespaces

Question

Is it bad practice to write a library that defines an interface dependent on another library?

I know tight coupling is bad, but does this still apply when using .NET cla

Answer 1

It depends on your usage of the class.

If you ever need to obtain an instance of the system Color class from an instance of your Color class (for example if you draw to a windows form) then it would be better to use the System class - it saves you the effort of having to convert between the two types and gives you the advantage of being able to use all the "Features" of the Color class for free (such as built in constants for "Red", "Black", "Green" etc...

If on the other hand you are simply working with arbitrary RGB values (perhaps for scientific calculations) and never need to convert to an instance of System.Color, then it might make sense to create your own class.

In all likelihood you are better off using the System.Color class - yes encapsulation and all that is a good idea, however not at the expense of saving you massive amounts of time!