Skip to main content

Notice: This Wiki is now read only and edits are no longer possible. Please see: https://gitlab.eclipse.org/eclipsefdn/helpdesk/-/wikis/Wiki-shutdown-plan for the plan.

Jump to: navigation, search

Difference between revisions of "PDE/API Tools"

< PDE
(Present state)
Line 1: Line 1:
API tooling is a collection of utilities that can be used in API maintenance and consistency checks. We hope to explore four directions here:
+
API tooling will assist developers in API maintenance by reporting API defects such as binary incompatibilities, incorrect plug-in version numbers, missing or incorrect @since tags, and usage of non-API code between plug-ins. The tooling will be integrated in the Eclipse SDK and will be used in the automated build process. Specifically, the tooling is designed to do the following:
<ul>
+
<li>'''[http://wiki.eclipse.org/PDE_UI_Incubator_ApiTools#API_Comparison_tool API Comparison tool]'''
+
<ul>
+
<li>API comparison – discover new APIs, modified APIs, flag APIs that are modified in a non-backward compatible way</li>
+
<li>Bundle version checking – use API comparison results to see if version number of a bundle has been properly incremented</li>
+
</ul>
+
</li>
+
<li>'''[http://wiki.eclipse.org/PDE_UI_Incubator_ApiTools#Reference_Extractor_tool Reference Extractor tool]'''<ul>
+
<li>Usage discovery – allow developers to discover who is using their APIs and non-APIs</li>
+
<li>Usage validation – check if usage of APIs from other bundles fits into Eclipse standards</li>
+
</ul></li>
+
</ul>
+
  
Also note that there is an ongoing work on [http://wiki.eclipse.org/index.php/PDE_UI_Incubator_Vis API visualization].
+
* Identify binary compatibility issues between two versions of a software component or product.
 +
* Update version numbers for plug-ins (bundles) based on the Eclipse versioning scheme.
 +
* Update @since tags for newly added classes, interfaces, methods, etc.
 +
* Provide new javadoc tags and code assist to annotate types with special restrictions.  
 +
* Leverage existing information (in MANIFEST.MF) to define the visibility of packages between bundles.  
 +
* Identify usage of non-API code between plug-ins.
  
 
== Present state ==
 
== Present state ==
  
At present there are '''two''' branches/implementations of API tooling in the incubator.
+
API tooling is currently '''under construction'''. One of the interesting features of the tool is its ability to produce and process class file stubs (i.e. minimal class files with just member signatures and reference information). The comparison and reference analysis tools can process standard class files or class file stubs. The stubs allow “API components” to be produced that are smaller than the original code intended for distribution. The class file stubs can be used as libraries to compile against, but not run.
 
+
More information on the [http://wiki.eclipse.org/ApiTools_Architecture architecture] of API tooling can be found here.  
The '''first''' implementation of API tooling is in HEAD. The comparison tool works by creating XML snapshots of each public type’s API. The snapshot for a type is generated by flattening the type hierarchy. Snapshots representing different versions of the same components can be compared to produce a report of binary incompatibilities. The reference analysis also works by extracting reference information into an XML file. At present there is a functional API comparison tool that received a moderate amount of testing. The reference extractor has reference extraction working but only skeleton code exists for processing of queries. More information on the [http://wiki.eclipse.org/PDE_UI_Incubator_ApiTools_take_i original implementation] of API tooling can be found here.
+
 
+
The '''second''' implementation of API tooling is in a branch named “manifest_tooling” and is currently '''under construction'''. This implementation is designed to compare class files to report binary incompatibilities. The tool has support to produce class file stubs (i.e. minimal class files with just member signatures and reference information). The comparison tool can process standard class files or class file stubs. The stubs allow “API components” to be produced that are smaller than the original code intended for distribution. The reference extraction portion of the tool will also analyze class files (or stubs) for reference information. More information on the [http://wiki.eclipse.org/ApiTools_Architecture architecture] of this implementation can be found here.
+
  
 
== Links ==
 
== Links ==

Revision as of 22:53, 5 November 2007

API tooling will assist developers in API maintenance by reporting API defects such as binary incompatibilities, incorrect plug-in version numbers, missing or incorrect @since tags, and usage of non-API code between plug-ins. The tooling will be integrated in the Eclipse SDK and will be used in the automated build process. Specifically, the tooling is designed to do the following:

  • Identify binary compatibility issues between two versions of a software component or product.
  • Update version numbers for plug-ins (bundles) based on the Eclipse versioning scheme.
  • Update @since tags for newly added classes, interfaces, methods, etc.
  • Provide new javadoc tags and code assist to annotate types with special restrictions.
  • Leverage existing information (in MANIFEST.MF) to define the visibility of packages between bundles.
  • Identify usage of non-API code between plug-ins.

Present state

API tooling is currently under construction. One of the interesting features of the tool is its ability to produce and process class file stubs (i.e. minimal class files with just member signatures and reference information). The comparison and reference analysis tools can process standard class files or class file stubs. The stubs allow “API components” to be produced that are smaller than the original code intended for distribution. The class file stubs can be used as libraries to compile against, but not run. More information on the architecture of API tooling can be found here.

Links

Evolving Java-based APIs - What is considered an API in Eclipse.

Resources

Eclipse Bugzilla - Eclipse bug tracking database.

PDE Incubator - New projects that might be incorporated into PDE in future.

PDE UI Home Page - The main PDE UI web site.

Back to the top