Incubated modules for Phobos

[Bane]

Piotr Szturmaj Wrote:

> Hi all,
> 
> Normal Phobos submission procedure is usually like that:
> 
> 1. write entire module from scratch by oneself
> 2. submit for voting
> 3. rewrite wrong parts, if there are none then add it to Phobos
> 4. otherwise goto 2
> 
> It is hard for one person to write entire module in such way it 
> satisfies everyone, especially for very new or complex additions, such 
> as database handling or cryptography.
> 
> Here, I propose that we add experimental "exp" hierarchy to Phobos for 
> such projects. I know etc hierarchy may me used for that but IMHO 
> separate "exp" would be more appropriate. In this namespace "beta" 
> modules will slowly evolve into official std modules.
> 
> Some (obvious) advantages are:
> 
> * developers may receive feedback very early in the process, saving them 
> from mass rewrites when in the opinion of community they made some wrong 
> coding decission.
> * developers may receive coding help, i.e. many of them may collaborate 
> on one big module.
> * users may test experimental modules early. This is important, because 
> usability issues may be catched earlier, not after submission when API 
> usually becomes frozen and it is too late.
> 
> "Exp" code may be shipped with each release just like "etc" code. Users 
> using experimental code should be aware of breaking changes that may be 
> introduced with each release or even with each commit.
> 
> Thoughts?

I like it. More people will keep an eye on new versions for new modules that are coming in. And if one wants to write new module for his needs, it can easily check exp to see is he reinventing wheel. (exmple. my suggestion here few days back to upgrade std.process only to find there is upgraded module - if I didn't ask on this NG I would never know there is that module). So exp sounds good.