Re: [Boost-build] [future] Implementation language(s)..

Subject: Re: [Boost-build] [future] Implementation language(s)..
From: Klemens Morgenstern (klemens.morgenstern_at_[hidden])
Date: 2016-10-25 10:30:00

Am 25.10.2016 um 16:08 schrieb Stefan Seefeld:
> On 25.10.2016 09:58, Rene Rivera wrote:
>> On Tuesday, October 18, 2016, Stefan Seefeld <stefan_at_[hidden]
>> <mailto:stefan_at_[hidden]>> wrote:
>>
>>      On 18.10.2016 10:28, Klemens Morgenstern wrote:
>>      > I'd provide both C++ and Python extensions, otherwise I do
>>      agree. I'll
>>      > see if I can come up wiht a way to build a plugin-system that may
>>      > understand more than one language, but with one interface; if that
>>      > works providing more than one language for extensions shouldn't be a
>>      > problem at all.
>>
>>      I'd caution against that. A build system consisting of plugins written
>>      in many different languages is just begging for trouble for
>>      maintenance.
>>
>>
>> After some thought for the past week.. I agree. Multiple languages at
>> the plugin level would make it a nightmare for users to know what they
>> need as far a requirements.
> I was actually more thinking of the community as a whole. Even if it's
> easy for the implementer to add new plugins in the language of his
> choice, having a plethora of plugins written in many different languages
> is is hard for others to embrace. (I'm assuming here that plugins aren't
> just written by a user for his own consumption, but to be shared and
> collaboratively maintained). It's much better for the community to have
> a project with few "lingua francas" to focus on, and I think that the
> combination of C++ and Python are an excellent choice in that domain.
The reason I proposed that, is that I think it would have several 
applications:

1. small, local extensions, e.g. some project-specific code generator
2. complete toolsets, i.e. plugins that should be shipped with the build 
system

I'd prefer to have the first stuff in a small scripting language and the 
second C++. I would not be mixing the langauges in the shipped plugins 
(pure C++ there), but provide the scripting language for user-extensions 
if you will.
If we only used python, we'd have a slow build system; if we'd only used 
C++, the extensions would be painful for the users.