Hi
On Thu, May 14, 2020 at 2:32 PM Marc-André Lureau <marcandre.lureau@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
HiOn Mon, May 11, 2020 at 12:16 PM Marc-André Lureau <marcandre.lureau@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:Hi,
About "Move code to C++":
https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/spice/spice/-/merge_requests/62
I would like to know how the decision happened. As long as I have been
involved in the Spice project, we had open discussions and did
mandatory review for anything non-trivial.
This change is substantial, and impacts the work and contribution of
others. Where did the discussion happen? Who reviewed the code
changes?
Since no real discussion nor public review took place, I propose to revert the change and add a HACKING file to make the rules clear. See:
Based on the discussion there, and the fact that a majority of developper are willing to take the change, I closed the MR.
Fwiw, beside the fact that the change wasn't done with review nor discussion (which on its own is detrimental), I think using C++ is wrong:
- C++ is much more complex than C, and fewer developper know it. A good C++ developper is an even better C developper.
- in our common ecosystem, QEMU, Linux, the GNOME desktop, are 90% C projects, and perhaps? 1% C++? (I don't know a single C++ system/core project tbh - only apps like KDE/LibreOffice/Firefox)
- C++ projects are switching away from it (ex Firefox), I don't know of a core/system project talking about switching to C++ these days.
- switching to C++ is going to be costly, as it is endless, and it will leave a bitter taste of previous/existing C. We could have used that time for other things... I would be pleasantly surprised if such refactoring would lead to regressions.
- C has better interoperability story than C++, especially because the code was GObjectified. We could have added/exported more friendly API/bindings for GNOME easily.
Overall, it's a waste of effort to me. What is the overall direction of the project? Except a few language improvements for a lower number of developpers, what does C++ bring us that we couldn't do with C for our users?
Nevertheless, I will try to invest some time reviewing the changes.
I hope we can agree on better project rules and directions for the future.
_______________________________________________ Spice-devel mailing list Spice-devel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx https://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/spice-devel