Towel CommandLine Comparisons

TowelCommandLineComparisons.md

This is a comparison between Towel's CommandLine implementation and other similar command line parsers.

Here is an example of Towel's CommandLine:

using System;
using System.IO;
using static Towel.CommandLine;

namespace ConsoleApp
{
	class Program
	{
		static void Main(string[] args)
		{
			if (args is null || args.Length <= 0) args = new[] { "run" }; // <- this line is not required.
			HandleArguments(args);
		}

		/// <summary>The run method.</summary>
		/// <param name="intOption">An option whose argument is parsed as an int.</param>
		/// <param name="boolOption">An option whose argument is parsed as a bool.</param>
		/// <param name="fileOption">An option whose argument is parsed as a FileInfo.</param>
		[Command] static void run(int intOption = 42, bool boolOption = false, FileInfo fileOption = null)
		{
			Console.WriteLine($"The value for --int-option is: {intOption}");
			Console.WriteLine($"The value for --bool-option is: {boolOption}");
			Console.WriteLine($"The value for --file-option is: {fileOption?.FullName ?? "null"}");
		}
	}
}

Here is a comparable example using System.CommandLine:

using System;
using System.CommandLine;
using System.CommandLine.Invocation;
using System.IO;

namespace ConsoleApp
{
	class Program
	{
		static int Main(string[] args)
		{
			var rootCommand = new RootCommand
			{
				new Option<int>(
					"--int-option",
					getDefaultValue: () => 42,
					description: "An option whose argument is parsed as an int"),
				new Option<bool>(
					"--bool-option",
					"An option whose argument is parsed as a bool"),
				new Option<FileInfo>(
					"--file-option",
					"An option whose argument is parsed as a FileInfo")
			};
			rootCommand.Description = "My sample app";
			rootCommand.Handler = CommandHandler.Create<int, bool, FileInfo>((intOption, boolOption, fileOption) =>
			{
				Console.WriteLine($"The value for --int-option is: {intOption}");
				Console.WriteLine($"The value for --bool-option is: {boolOption}");
				Console.WriteLine($"The value for --file-option is: {fileOption?.FullName ?? "null"}");
			});
			return rootCommand.InvokeAsync(args).Result;
		}
	}
}

As you can see, Towel's CommandLine implemtation has less boiler plate than System.CommandLine, and the source code is a fraction of the size (granted System.CommandLine has features that Towel's CommandLine does not yet have).