A long, but interesting, discussion of open-source software development by and for libraries, and why the author thinks open-source projects are destined to outnumber and ultimately replace proprietary ones:

Today I successfully generated some documentation directly from commented Flows code in both php and python, and I also found that Doxygen ought to work with Ruby (we'll see). In a Flows-like way, Doxygen generates the documentation in XML, HTML, RTF, etc.

I learned enough about the process though to realize that it might be smarter to write a Flows component that generates the documentation you need when you are looking at it in the browser, instead of pre-generating static files of documentation.

Will have to contemplate....

Basically:

1. Pick a programming language: python, php, etc.
2. Download the template for components in that language, or in another language if your choice is not available.

http://flows.panarchy.com/sandbox/templates/

Mercurial Repository:
http://code.google.com/p/flows-dev/

3. Add in the desired functionality
4. Make your component accessible via HTTP

This may mean some server/hosting setup and configuration on your end.

that's it. srsly.

Q: But why is it so simple?

A: Remember, Flows does not dictate what your internal code looks like. Flows is an interaction specification, not a programming specification. As long as your code responds to HTTP requests and is willing to communicate with other Flows components, then Flows itself is ambivalent about what is inside your code.

now get to it.