On 02/22/2013 07:08 AM, Wolfgang Huber wrote:
I would like to suggest clarification of the information in the "Package
Guidelines" [1] and the "Package Submission" [2] pages.
1. Information that is actually of type "guideline" is (only) stated on the
submission page, which is confusing. Shouldn't one page describe the applied
criteria, and the other the submission procedure?
2. We state: "Packages should also conform to the following: • Use S4 classes
and methods.". This is vague and confusing. I think what it should say is
that *existing* S4 classes and generic functions, and existing methods,
should be re-used. What many developers seem to interpret this as is that
they should come up with lots of their own, new, ideosyncratic S4 classes and
methods. Which mostly only adds overhead and complexity, and rarely any
benefit. I would like to suggest removing that statement, or clarifying it.
I addressed this specific issue by changing the package-submission text to
Use existing S4 classes and generic functions; see the Package Guidelines for
details on appropriate use.
and the package-guideline text to
Re-use existing S4 classes and generics where possible. This encourages
interoperability and simplifies your own package development. If your data
requires a new representation or function, carefully design an S4 class or
generic so that other package developers with similar needs will be able to
re-use your hard work, and so that users of related packages will be able to
seamlessly use your data structures. Do not hesitate to ask on the Bioc-devel
mailing list for advice.
We will revisit the submission / guideline pages over the next several days, but
additional specific issues are certainly welcome from you or others...
Martin
Best wishes Wolfgang
[1] http://www.bioconductor.org/developers/package-guidelines/ [2]
http://www.bioconductor.org/developers/package-submission/
_______________________________________________ [email protected]
mailing list https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/bioc-devel
--
Computational Biology / Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
1100 Fairview Ave. N.
PO Box 19024 Seattle, WA 98109
Location: Arnold Building M1 B861
Phone: (206) 667-2793
_______________________________________________
[email protected] mailing list
https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/bioc-devel
