Re: API clean up patch

[Stephen Crawley]

Folks,

Archie Cobbs wrote:
> Andrew Haley wrote:
> >  > I'm only trying to make it at least theoretically possible for a VM
> >  > to use Classpath unmodified and still function properly.
> > 
> > To what end?
> 
> Here are a couple of reasons..
> 
> - It allows multiple VMs to share the same "stock" Classpath installation
> 
> - Fewer Classpath "diffs" means an easier burden of merging Classpath
>    changes into each VM's customized versions of the VMFoo classes.

As a low profile maintainer of a VM, these are sound reasons.  As far as
I am concerned, the more functional the standard Classpath 'reference'
layer is, the less work I need to do to keep Kissme in step.
 
- It just plain looks dumb for the API to be inconsistent.

That too ... though 'dumbness' is not necessarily a bad thing.

ON THE OTHER HAND, any changes to the 'reference' layer cause me some
degree of extra work.  Sometimes it is trivial, sometimes not.  For
example, I still haven't finished ironing out the bugs in Kissme that
resulted from the classloader overhaul forced on me by the Classpath 
tidyup a few months ago.  

So, please only make these changes if they are going to have significant
>>overall<< benefit.

-- Steve