Re: [Module-build-general] A mini-language for dependencies?

[Brian I. <in...@tt...>]

On 07/03/03 15:17 -0600, Ken Williams wrote:
> 
> On Thursday, March 6, 2003, at 02:48  AM, sc...@po... wrote:
> 
> > On Thu, Mar 06, 2003 at 11:51:12AM +0800, Autrijus Tang wrote:
> >> build_requires:
> >>   Test::More: {}
> >> recommends:
> >>   Acme::ComeFrom:
> >>     alternate:
> >>       Acme::ComeWith:
> >>         version: 0.05
> >>     reason: "I really likes it"
> >>     version: 0.02
> >
> > The 'alternate' syntax feels better handled like so
> >
> >     recommends:
> >       Text::Bastardize:  0
> >       Net Transport Agent:
> >         LWP:	     1.25
> >         Net::FTP:    0.24

FWIW, This is also valid YAML:

  recommends:
    Text::Bastardize:  0
    Net Transport Agent: { LWP: 1.25, Net::FTP: 0.24 }

> > ie. what you need it for then those modules which will fulfill the 
> > need.
> > Its simple to read and write.
> >
> > And then when you need all the extra information (arch, perl, etc...)
> > there's an optional rich syntax like you have below.
> 
> I'm not sure I'm convinced that YAML is really the best way to write 
> this information.  That's why I suggested the creation of a 
> mini-language - YAML is a language for creating data structures, not 
> declarations of dependencies.  My sense is that forcing things into 
> YAML tends to obscure the information.
> 
> If it can be done in easy YAML, and still be eminently readable, I'm 
> all for it.  It does make the parsing easier.  But I don't think it's 
> great to use 3-level nesting in the META.yml files, because you lose 
> the human readability and the ability to use brain-dead parsing on them.
> 
> That said, the real work in this task isn't in the parsing, it's in 
> turning the parse into a real check of the dependencies.  So I'm not 
> sure there's a whole lot to gain by using YAML either.  Recall that the 
> easy cases (modules with completely static dependencies) can just be 
> expressed using the current YAML declarations, so it's only the messy 
> cases that will need to use this anyway.
> 
> I should be able to post a counter-proposal within the next couple of 
> days.
> 
>   -Ken
> 
> 
> 
> -------------------------------------------------------
> This SF.net email is sponsored by: Etnus, makers of TotalView, The debugger 
> for complex code. Debugging C/C++ programs can leave you feeling lost and 
> disoriented. TotalView can help you find your way. Available on major UNIX 
> and Linux platforms. Try it free. www.etnus.com
> _______________________________________________
> Module-build-general mailing list
> Mod...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/module-build-general