annotate admin/notes/iftc @ 68199:5012e59a73c7

* mh-comp.el (mh-pgp-support-flag): Move here from mh-utils.el; needed to help remove dependency on mh-utils. * mh-exec.el: New file. Move process support routines here from mh-utils.el. * mh-init.el (mh-utils): Remove require. (mh-exec): Add require. (mh-profile-component, mh-profile-component-value): Move here from mh-utils.el. * mh-utils.el (mh-pgp-support-flag): Move to mh-comp.el to reduce dependencies on mh-utils.el. (mh-profile-component, mh-profile-component-value): Move to mh-init.el since that's the only place that uses them. (Other than mh-alias.el; I'm thinking that mh-find-path can set variable from the Aliasfile component like it does the other components). (mh-index-max-cmdline-args, mh-xargs, mh-quote-for-shell) (mh-exec-cmd, mh-exec-cmd-error, mh-exec-cmd-daemon) (mh-exec-cmd-env-daemon, mh-process-daemon, mh-exec-cmd-quiet) (defvar, mh-exec-cmd-output) (mh-exchange-point-and-mark-preserving-active-mark) (mh-exec-lib-cmd-output, mh-handle-process-error): Move to new file mh-exec.el so that mh-init.el doesn't have to depend on mh-utils.el, breaking circular dependency. * mh-alias.el: mh-customize.el: mh-e.el: mh-funcs.el: mh-gnus.el: * mh-identity.el: mh-inc.el: mh-junk.el: mh-mime.el: mh-print.el: * mh-search.el: mh-seq.el: mh-speed.el: Added debugging statements (commented out) around requires to help find dependency loops. Will remove them when issues are resolved.

Iso-Functional Type Contour


This is a term coined to describe "column int->float" change approach, and can
be used whenever low-level types need to change (hopefully not often!) but the
meanings of the values (whose type has changed) do not.

The premise is that changing a low-level type potentially means lots of code
needs to be changed as well, and the question is how to do this incrementally,
which is the preferred way to change things.

Say LOW and HIGH are C functions:

  int LOW (void) { return 1; }
  void HIGH (void) { int value = LOW (); }

We want to convert LOW to return float, so we cast HIGH usage:

  float LOW (void) { return 1.0; }
  void HIGH (void) { int value = (int) LOW (); }  /* iftc */

The comment /* iftc */ is used to mark this type of casting to differentiate
it from other casting.  We commit the changes and can now go about modifying
LOW and HIGH separately.  When HIGH is ready to handle the type change, the
cast can be removed.

;;; arch-tag: 3309cc41-5d59-421b-b7be-c94b04083bb5