Third party code considered harmful ?!
Hobbs argues that third party code should be wrapped around. Or else whenever a new version of library like log4j is released, or some other need surfaces not supported by library, you will be in trouble. Sort of isolating yourself with a single point of contact between system code and the external library.
Having experienced wrapper bloat I think different. These wrapped customizations are more difficult for a newcomer to understand, and they are signs of over engineering anyway. They are also leaky as you cant isolate yourself from underlying metaphors.
More simpler solution to this problem is vendor branches. Keep all third party libraries under source control, and update them only when change is necessary. If you need custom modifications then do a fix in-place then submit your changes to third party. All this is well documented in SCM community.
