[gephex-devel] 0.5 type system -> C++?

[Georg Seidel]

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Hi there,

the questions of Jean-Sebastian about out C-only module and type
interface made me think once more about our current type system
for units and links in gephex-0.5.

We already decided that the current _very_ compiler and language
independent vtable approach is too complicated, and that we
should use plain (packes) C-structs instead.

The last days I have been thinking that it might be a good idea
to throw the whole vtable overhead away and use C++ data types
(with some restrictions such as no STL in interfaces or members).

I know, I was the one who always fought for language independence.
But I did not think that the plugin compiler would become that
complicated (It took me ca. 2 weeks to write).

So the plugin interface would not change at all, but instead of
vtables, the board() function would return ptrs. to C++
objects (factory classes for units and links).

This would also allow us to derive all linktypes from a common
base-class which would implement this timestamp functionality we
already talked about.

(And if we want plugins in different languages, we can write a wrapper
class in C++.)

So let me summarize:

~  Advantages:
~     * much much simpler type system (c++ does it for us)
~     * much better type system (inheritance)
~     * Less glue code

~  Disadvantages:
~     * C plugins and plugins in other languages not directly possible
~     * Compiler dependent plugins (only plugins that are compiled
~        with a "compatible" compiler can be loaded)

Hmm...

Georg
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