Benjamin Gould created THRIFT-5209:
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Summary: WIP: Support TinyGo
Key: THRIFT-5209
URL: https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/THRIFT-5209
Project: Thrift
Issue Type: New Feature
Components: Go - Compiler, Go - Library
Reporter: Benjamin Gould
TinyGo ([https://tinygo.org/)] provides a compiler for the Go programming
language that is an alternative to the standard Go compiler and is based on
LLVM. It uses the standard Go toolchain to compile programs to Go's SSA
format, and then translates the SSA to LLVM IR that can subsequently be
compiled for various microcontrollers, wasm, or Linux. The important takeaway
from that explanation is that since TinyGo programs use the standard Go
compiler for the compiler frontend, is not is a subset of the Go language - it
is the same language, with some small caveats.
The main caveat as far as Thrift support is concerned is that not all packages
in the standard library are supported yet, including the {{net}} and
{{encoding/json}} packages. This presents an obvious problem for using Thrift,
since these packages are imported by the Thrift Go library. Additionally, some
small tweaks to the code from the compiler are necessary to work around limited
support for the {{reflect}} and {{database/sql packages}}.
In general, Thrift can work with TinyGo, but until TinyGo gains more complete
support for the standard library it does require a compiler flag and excluding
a number of features of the Thrift Go library.
Initial support for TinyGo is found here:
[https://github.com/bgould/thrift/tree/fc2f380a2a390860160df851e9a9698f8e3c66f4]
However I have the following questions about the best way to proceed:
# Should TinyGo support be implemented in the compiler via a flag on the Go
generator that eliminates references to packages unsupported by TinyGo such as
reflect and database/sql from the generated code? This would be similar in
concept I think to the -android option to the Java generator. Alternatively,
should a separate generator altogether be added, in the same way that Java and
JavaME are separate generators in Thrift? For reference, the scope of the
changes to the Go generator for supporting TinyGo are roughly this -
[https://github.com/bgould/thrift/commit/f1a57bf94731a262b68d5a519bcbbb4c8c303a23#diff-36ef31e670e3df20e286373dfb7ecc23]
# Similarly, the changes in the Thrift library can mostly be implemented by
adding build tags to exclude unsupported transports etc when compiling for
TinyGo (the TinyGo compiler sets a {{tinygo}} build tag automatically for all
TinyGo builds). It would also be feasible to maintain a separate library that
is explicitly compatible with TinyGo. Again, the analogy of the distinction
between Java/Android and Java/JavaME applies here I think. The sorts of
changes necessary are like this:
https://github.com/bgould/thrift/commit/f1a57bf94731a262b68d5a519bcbbb4c8c303a23#diff-90f0f50bdfa55c6a4a1d53580c103ae0
The main reason I am asking these questions is that I would really like to land
this feature, and the same time want to make sure it does not create undue
burden on Thrift maintainers working on supporting the standard Go
implementation. Personally I think I would lean toward using the "Android"
model I described above with a single generator/library using a compiler option
and build flags, respectively. You opinion and feedback are of course greatly
appreciated.
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