Specifying possible version statements for libraries and apps
WebFreak001
d.forum at webfreak.org
Fri Oct 8 17:01:47 UTC 2021
I would like to suggest adding some kind of standard metadata
format to declare which custom versions (maybe also debug
versions?) an application or library consumes and defines. This
could be used as documentation for others, to know what kind of
versions exist and may be used for example for auto completion
and static analysis to see if typos in versions have been made.
I was thinking about this because issues like this could be
avoided: https://github.com/das-developers/das2D/issues/2 (all
builtin versions would be included in the list by default, could
lint the list for not clashing the builtin versions)
I'm thinking about a few different ways how this could be
realized:
1) having `version = X;` or `// version = X;` in the head of D
files.
**Advantage:** This would be the most easy one to adapt as some
projects maybe already use some kind of structure like this.
Could work out of the box for some projects already. Can easily
add documentation in the form of comments.
**Disadvantage:** in a long block of versions you could
introduce typos when duplicating them in conditional blocks.
2) have it integrated in dub.json/dub.sdl like
`"availableVersions": ["A", "B", "C"]`
**Advantage:** no extra file needed for DUB projects, making
for a clean project. Can be inherited / shown easily and parsing
can trivially be extended. Having them defined exactly once can
prevent typos with full certainty.
**Disadvantage:** Needs to be added into all projects, no
documentation in JSON format possible. (or more verbose format
needed, but writing long text in JSON strings is not fun once
quotes and new lines are introduced) Not applicable to non-DUB
projects.
3) have a dedicated .ddoc/.txt/.sdl/.json/.whatever file to list
versions and documentation.
**Advantage:** Works universally in projects, can for example
be included in the IDE's own project format. Having them defined
exactly once can prevent typos with full certainty.
**Disadvantage:** Needs to be added into all projects. Not
being bound to any build system means it's unclear where versions
go and how dependencies/dependants work.
Which ones of those would you prefer and do you think this is a
good idea in general?
Once settled on a format it would be relatively easy to add
suggestions and linter errors for it to editors and LSP clients
or make a dedicated tool for it.
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