API/EclipseCon2008Workshop

This page collects topics for the API Design Workshop at EclipseCon 2008.

Status: the workshop submission has been accepted for EclipseCon 2008! It will be held on Monday, March 17, from 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. in Room 203/204 of the convention center.

Abstract

In this workshop, targeted at Eclipse committers, we will work together on best practices for API design. This workshop will be run in an Open Space format to ensure maximum benefit for the participants. In advance of the workshop, participants will use a wiki page to sign up for the workshop and to coordinate topics they want to discuss or learn about. During the workshop, we will have several breakout discussion sessions about the topics that matter the most to the participants. Discussion notes or results will be posted on the wiki. The workshop organizer will bring a 4-hour slide deck about Java API design just in case. However, I hope that together as a group, we can do better than just listening to one individual.

Participants

• Boris Bokowski, IBM Rational, Canada
• John Arthorne, IBM Rational, Canada
• Jim des Rivières, IBM Rational, Canada
• Christopher Daniel, Poznan University of Technology, Poland
• Brian Carroll, Serena Software (bcarroll@serena.com)
• ... add your name...

Topics

• Binary compatibility vs. source compatibility vs. contract compatibility
• API design process best practices
• Exposing the API of an OSGi bundle:
  • Import-Package vs. Require-Bundle
  • How to use Export-Package with x-internal, x-friends, etc
  • Bundle version numbers and package version numbers
  • Expressing dependency on execution environments
• API testing
• ... add your own topic ...