[xtext-dev] How to deal with copying / cloning existing functionality of

[Peter Friese <peter.friese@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi,

when implementing some Xtext UI features and looking at code checked  
in by some of you, I got the impression that there is quite a lot of  
functionality in Eclipse that we would like to use, but can't because  
it is internal.

I'd like to discuss this issue with you to find a reasonable way to  
deal with this situation. Here are my thoughts:

1) Use internal code and ignore all warnings the compiler spits at us.
(-) Probably not a good solution, as it is likely to break in future  
versions of Eclipse

2) Copy and paste existing internal code.
(-) Leads to code duplication.
(+) Code has already been tested.
(+) Achieve quick results: just copy'n'paste and you're (almost) done.
(-) If the original code gets updated / improved, we won't notice this.

3) Write from scratch.
(-) Time-intensive
(-) Still produces duplicate code
(-) Code will contain more bugs that copied code (which already has  
undergone some testing)

4) Request that internal code is made API (and moved up to a more  
central location)
(+) No code duplication
(-) Need to persuade Eclipse developers to refactor code. In most  
cases, two disparate Eclipse teams will be involved, so we'll need to  
persuade two teams.

I'd like to propose a combination of (2) and (4):

5) Copy existing code, add a FIXME or REFACTORME marker and request  
existing code be made public API
(+) immediate copy'n'paste re-use of existing code: quite productive
(+) we might be able to use API if the existing code is made API
(+) we won't forget about the origin of the code since we have added a  
REFACTORME marker stating the origin of the code

I am interested in your opinions. Should there be anything I forgot to  
think about, please complement.

Peter