kicad-developers team mailing list archive

[Eeli Kaikkonen <eeli.kaikkonen@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Tue, Jun 30, 2020 at 9:17 PM Mark Roszko <mark.roszko@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> While more extensibility is great. I can only say expecting the user to
> use python exclusively for adding the new behavior like for issue #2339 is
> very crude.
>

I'm not saying any possible feature which can be replaced with a script
should be replaced. It must be decided case by case. I don't even say that
these examples are something where an internal feature should be replaced
with a hook. They are just possible examples to show what could be
possible. Just think about it this way:

1. Which one is better, just let the users wait for the feature to be
implemented, or add a hook which makes it possible to implement it right
away in a simple way in a script and then let the users wait for it to be
implemented in KiCad proper later?

2. Each hook makes it possible to add any imaginable functionality, not
just one feature wish.

3. Adding a hook doesn't take anything away, it just adds possibilities.

4. Any developer is still free to implement anything  in C++. Like now they
are free to implement a functionality which has existed only in an action
script before.

5. Adding a hook doesn't change the UI or the behavior in any way. They
wouldn't cause any bugs if the backend for the hook system is good. Hooks
could be added even for bugfix releases. It may be much better than waiting
for one or two years for the next feature release.



> Not everyone is a programmer
>

Sure. But big problems with scripting have been 1) the unstable API and 2)
the lack of asset infrastructure. Both are being worked on. When KiCad
scripting gets more traction and the scripts are easier to share and
install, not everyone needs to be a programmer and still can easily benefit
from the work from others. The potential number of python developers for
simple scripts like string  handling and generic file manipulation is
certainly larger than the amount of potential C++ developers.

And if we take that #2339 as an example, it would require a real GUI in
KiCad proper (because it would need a way to manipulate the list of
folders). A python script would be one a couple of python functions and a
list of text strings. If  someone writes the script, anyone can change the
list of strings, there's no need to be a programmer to change the names of
the folders. So, which one would be the better option: 1) add a simple hook
to make it possible and implement the GUI later, or 2) not make it possible
until someone implements the GUI?

Eeli Kaikkonen