[geeklog-devel] GL2 update

[Tony Bibbs]

My comments are below.  Before that, though, let me make it clear that 
Phing would not be required by end users.  They would install the 
software just like the do GL 1.3.x.  Propel would be required but we'd 
include that in the distro ourselves.  Creole is required by Propel and 
in this vein would effectively replace the use of PEAR::DB.

Blaine Lang wrote:

>Tony, Vince:
>
>I don't completely follow all the discussion and background and I know GL2 
>is currently still in at the framework component stage, but I am wondering a 
>few things:
>
>1: Does this mean as a plugin developer or GL developer I will need to have 
>Propel and Creole installed ?
>  
>
Both Propel and Creole would be required.  Both are easily installed 
using "pear install".  The plugin developers don't have to use Propel of 
they don't want to...in fact, for trivial plugins I don't think it would 
make much sense.  Creole, however would be required.

>2: It would appear we would have dependencies on these projects and should 
>we not be concerned regarding
>  - long term support
>  - will it meet our needs without changes in case our datatypes or model 
>requires it.
>  
>
Long term support is always an issue in the OSS world.  To make life 
easier on us and to plan for any unexpected changes, I'm implementing a 
DAO layer.  This effectively hides the implementation details of Propel 
from the developer.  If we decide to get rid of Propel/Creole, all we'd 
have to do is rewrite the DAO layer and 99% of the code would be left 
untouched. 

>3: What are all the underlying layers or components that now need to be 
>installed for GL 2
>
>Case 1: User
>  
>
Again, for the user we would include all the libraries needed in the 
distribution to make installation easier.  This would include 
Propel/Creole and any PEAR libraries we decide to go with.

>Case 2: Developer (User requirements plus)
>
>Obvioius ones are:
> - PHP 5
> - MySQL or other DBMS
> - Webserver
>  
>
Core GL2 developers and anybody wanting the benefits of the ORM (propel) 
will need Phing and Propel installed. There is a bit of a learning curve 
getting those setup but nothing too difficult and we can help that by 
documenting this well.  Once it is setup and developers understand how 
Propel works and how the DAO layer I'm building works the development 
process goes really fast.   Obviously I can say this until I'm blue in 
the face but until you use it the apprecation will be lost.

>PEAR Classes ?
>  
>
Right now PEAR::HTML_Template_Flexy.  Oh, and don't forget our friend, 
MVCnPHP.

I think the jist of what you were getting at is this all seems 
complicated and that the requirements are too great.  I will say it is a 
big deviation from how 1.3.x is developed.  However, all bullshit aside, 
coding will go much faster in this environment once the developer knows 
how to use the ORM/DAO and, of course, MVC.

--Tony