From: Dmitry Gutov <dgutov@yandex.ru>
To: Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
Cc: philip@warpmail.net, theo@thornhill.no, emacs-devel@gnu.org
Subject: Re: master 1e3b0f2: Improve doc strings of project.el
Date: Sun, 12 Jul 2020 18:08:50 +0300 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <5d59dd9b-0848-691a-615e-c16d2070b92d@yandex.ru> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <83a704okmg.fsf@gnu.org>
On 12.07.2020 17:47, Eli Zaretskii wrote:
>> If I said something is a bad idea, don't go ahead and ignore me. This is
>> extremely rude.
>
> This goes both ways.
It never does with you.
If I work on parts of Emacs I'm not responsible for, I make doubly sure
to check with authors/maintainers.
How about you extend me this courtesy? I'm the author and the maintainer
of this package.
>> Not documenting internal information is a valid choice.
>
> It isn't internal. Anyone who wants to use the return value will need
> to understand its possible form(s).
Yes, it is. Apparently you don't understand how cl-generic works.
>>> But other than that, if someone needs to write code for the VC project
>>> backend, how can they NOT rely on the form of the object that
>>> project-try-vc returns?
>>
>> Nobody should "write code for the VC project backend" except its
>> author(s).
>
> This is a community project, and everybody is welcome to contribute
> code to any part of Emacs. Restricting some parts of code to a single
> person is not a good way of ensuring Emacs's future.
Not the person. The place. project-vc lives in project.el.
Internal information can reside there without being documented, if all
of its producers and consumers also reside there.
>> Whatever fuctionality users need to implement, should target the open
>> API. Which does not depend on the shape of the return value of
>> project-try-vc.
>
> With respect, I disagree, having read the code and having considered
> how I would implement something related to it. That is the single
> most important reason why I'm trying to improve the documentation of
> this package: to make it easier for others to expand and extend it.
If you had asked me questions like "how do I implement this or that",
none of my answers would have included the format of the return value of
project-try-vc.
So the docstring shouldn't either.
You can still ask those questions.
>>> Why should that form, which is important for
>>> handling any VC project, and is thus part of a public API, be left
>>> undocumented?
>>
>> No, they can't. That information can freely change between versions, so
>> any reliance on it will create compatibility problems when upgrading.
>
> Then let's say that. But concealing the information will not solve
> the problem, because you cannot conceal it. By not mentioning it and
> the caveats to go with it we will be punished twice: we will make it
> harder for people to understand the current code and contribute to it,
There's nothing hard in understanding what the current code returns: you
navigate to the function's definition and look at the end.
> and we will not make sure they realize that relying on these details
> is not a good idea.
Like I said, if you're not satisfied with how that recommendation is
conveyed, feel free to add clarifications. *Without* giving the example
of said values in the docstrings.
>> If my method of saying "don't rely on this format" is insufficient,
>> please go ahead and add some more clarifications on that part. But
>> without documenting this said value format.
>
> You cannot usefully tell people to not rely on something without
> describing that something.
And yet, somehow, parents around the world manage to tell their children
not to use swear words without swearing profusely themselves.
> And there's the other disadvantage to
> concealing information: obfuscation of the code.
The code is not the issue.
>>> More generally, please put yourself in the shoes of someone who wants
>>> to extend an existing backend, or add a new backend, and try to read
>>> the documentation through their eyes.
>>
>> If they create a new backend, they will read the code of the existing
>> one.
>
> That's not how we encourage extending Emacs. Some minimal
> documentation is needed before we can in good faith tell users to read
> the code, and project.el currently falls short of that minimum, IMO.
You seem to be criticizing something else than what I said.
And I never said we don't need documentation.
>>> They will need to know
>>> something about the methods they should implement/extend, about which
>>> ones are and which ones aren't mandatory.
>>
>> That is orthogonal to this issue.
>
> I don't think it's orthogonal, I think it's all part of the same
> issue.
Mentioning (vc . "path/to/root") somehow helps the users know which
methods they need to implement?
You must be kidding.
>>> They will need to know
>>> something about what the project object is or can be, and what minimum
>>> capabilities should it have.
>>
>> Hence the description in my latest commit.
>
> It was insufficient. And what we have now, after my changes, is still
> insufficient, IMO. More work is needed.
Of course. On *different* aspects.
>>>> We have enough trouble with user-defined functions returning (cons 'transient some-root-dir) already.
>>>
>>> Which trouble is that?
>>
>> People try to customize the root-finding logic this way, and as a result
>> get a project backend that behaves more slowly than the VC one. And that
>> affects all of project-* commands that they might like to use.
>
> People learn by doing and by making mistakes. It is not a catastrophe
> if their first attempt is suboptimal. Making the documentation better
> might be one way of helping them understand how to DTRT.
Right.
>>> And as long as we are talking about this: you mentioned the
>>> "transient" project without defining what it is. That is not useful.
>>> I tried to add some minimal explanation of that, and also fixed
>>> another related omission.
>>
>> I would say thank you, but you again documented the return value there.
>
> Of course. It's a value that others need to be aware of.
>
>> The value is *irrelevant*, and it is, again, internal to the backend.
>
> Which backend is that?
The 'transient' backend.
Okay, internal to project.el, if we want to be more precise.
> AFAICT, project-current is backend-agnostic.
Except when we want to return some project instance where none were
detected.
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2020-07-12 15:08 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 149+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
[not found] <20200619075401.21856.16524@vcs0.savannah.gnu.org>
[not found] ` <20200619075402.CE1D220A27@vcs0.savannah.gnu.org>
2020-06-19 11:01 ` master 1e3b0f2: Improve doc strings of project.el Dmitry Gutov
2020-06-19 11:24 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-06-19 11:37 ` Basil L. Contovounesios
2020-06-19 11:50 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-06-19 12:30 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-06-19 12:44 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-06-19 12:54 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-06-19 13:27 ` Philip K.
2020-06-19 13:34 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-06-19 14:11 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-06-19 14:18 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-06-19 14:24 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-06-19 14:41 ` Philip K.
2020-06-20 7:22 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-06-19 14:25 ` Theodor Thornhill
2020-06-19 14:37 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-06-19 14:49 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-06-19 15:11 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-06-19 18:33 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-06-19 19:01 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-06-19 19:28 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-06-20 6:43 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-06-20 7:43 ` Theodor Thornhill
2020-06-20 8:55 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-06-20 9:29 ` Theodor Thornhill
2020-06-20 10:07 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-06-20 10:19 ` Theodor Thornhill
2020-06-20 11:37 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-06-20 11:35 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-06-20 12:32 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-06-20 22:21 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-06-20 11:29 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-06-20 11:46 ` Kévin Le Gouguec
2020-06-20 11:57 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-06-20 12:37 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-06-20 21:18 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-06-20 12:25 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-06-20 23:17 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-06-20 11:25 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-06-20 12:12 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-06-20 12:30 ` Basil L. Contovounesios
2020-06-20 12:42 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-06-20 23:11 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-06-21 15:08 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-06-21 22:24 ` Juri Linkov
2020-06-22 2:27 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-06-28 0:56 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-06-28 14:28 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-06-28 22:35 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-06-29 14:50 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-06-29 15:07 ` Stephen Leake
2020-06-29 22:35 ` Juri Linkov
2020-07-01 22:02 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-07-01 22:07 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-07-01 22:57 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-07-04 7:15 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-07-04 22:22 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-07-05 14:26 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-07-05 19:45 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-07-07 15:04 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-07-07 15:23 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-07-10 14:27 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-07-10 14:57 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-07-10 18:14 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-07-10 19:36 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-07-11 6:58 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-07-11 11:29 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-07-11 12:35 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-07-12 0:48 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-07-12 14:00 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-07-12 14:16 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-07-12 14:47 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-07-12 15:08 ` Dmitry Gutov [this message]
2020-07-12 15:36 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-07-12 16:17 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-07-13 1:51 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-07-13 4:40 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-07-13 7:11 ` Gregory Heytings via Emacs development discussions.
2020-07-13 7:21 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-07-13 7:52 ` Gregory Heytings via Emacs development discussions.
2020-07-13 8:53 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-07-13 18:26 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-07-13 7:58 ` tomas
2020-07-17 10:27 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-07-17 15:27 ` tomas
2020-07-18 0:55 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-07-18 9:05 ` tomas
2020-07-18 10:10 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-07-18 11:58 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-07-18 19:14 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-07-19 2:27 ` Richard Stallman
2020-07-19 21:59 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-07-20 2:44 ` Richard Stallman
2020-07-13 19:51 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-07-16 16:34 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-07-16 18:55 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-07-16 19:57 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-07-16 21:02 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-07-17 1:07 ` Richard Stallman
2020-07-17 1:30 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-07-16 18:56 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-07-16 19:59 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-07-16 20:53 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-07-13 2:51 ` Richard Stallman
2020-07-13 10:47 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-07-13 13:00 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-07-13 15:24 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-07-13 16:30 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-07-13 19:01 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-07-13 19:41 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-07-13 21:39 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-07-11 12:59 ` Michael Albinus
2020-07-12 14:49 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-07-12 17:19 ` Michael Albinus
2020-06-28 22:14 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-06-29 14:32 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-06-19 15:02 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-06-19 15:13 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-06-19 18:23 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-06-19 18:44 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-06-19 18:49 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-06-19 19:07 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-06-19 15:02 ` Theodor Thornhill via Emacs development discussions.
2020-06-19 15:19 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-06-19 15:39 ` Theodor Thornhill
2020-06-19 17:11 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-06-19 17:46 ` Theodor Thornhill
2020-06-19 18:03 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-06-19 18:19 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-06-19 18:36 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-06-19 18:49 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-06-19 18:22 ` Theodor Thornhill
2020-06-19 18:41 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-06-19 18:57 ` Theodor Thornhill
2020-06-19 19:10 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-06-19 20:08 ` theo
2020-06-19 19:04 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-06-19 19:12 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-06-19 19:33 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-06-20 7:20 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-06-20 11:41 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-06-20 12:36 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-06-20 21:58 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-06-19 18:21 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-06-19 18:30 ` Theodor Thornhill
2020-06-19 14:07 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-06-19 14:23 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-06-19 14:28 ` Eli Zaretskii
[not found] <<87bllfqj82.fsf@warpmail.net>
[not found] ` <<83o8pfxhzq.fsf@gnu.org>
[not found] ` <<I2nnldrvYQuQLpqgZyK7owqcMuP8kMtAdgkVXzq66i2hg6TgDaYFJe4RMj19j0J9Z1WqR9_vbifeegWNOLS3BBv-R34nJLuXYurqIVrefNE=@thornhill.no>
[not found] ` <<83imfnxgt3.fsf@gnu.org>
[not found] ` <<626efe11-0f9c-081b-11dd-0d61cee8168d@yandex.ru>
[not found] ` <<83h7v7xf7w.fsf@gnu.org>
[not found] ` <<b7f4a9ba-4320-b7b2-e150-74d667943ecd@yandex.ru>
[not found] ` <<831rmayj55.fsf@gnu.org>
[not found] ` <<6dc2c2ac-8e17-f044-dc78-8c109f936ad2@yandex.ru>
[not found] ` <<83wo42w83e.fsf@gnu.org>
[not found] ` <<6762abf5-71c1-aa54-1bac-d4c90c20870b@yandex.ru>
[not found] ` <<831rmavsuq.fsf@gnu.org>
2020-06-20 22:55 ` Drew Adams
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