Frameworks/Policies

From KDE Community Wiki

The strategy and policies for the KDE Frameworks effort is yet to be discussed and decided.

http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.comp.kde.devel.frameworks/37

This page is a starting point for further expansion.


Policies

Strive for Source Compatibility

Avoid removing API from the frameworks branch, even if it is replaced or deprecated. Prefer to implement the old API in terms of the new API.

In some cases this is very easy. For example, many APIs in KGlobal will be replaced as part of the frameworks effort.

  • KGlobal::charsets() -> KCharsets::charsets()
  • KGlobal::dirs() -> KStandardDirs::global() (or something?)
  • KGlobal::ref() -> qApp->ref()
  • KGlobal::deref() -> qApp->deref()

etc.

Removing this API from KGlobal is not necessary in most cases, and it introduces a porting burden which is best avoided.

There is unlikely to be a 1:1 mapping of old API to new API in every case, so how to implement the old API may not always be obvious. However, attempting to ensure that the older API remains useful should be at the front of our efforts and standards in the frameworks branch.