It was my impression there was a procedure in place earlier for moving methods
from SmalltalkImage to classes with a more singular responsibility that ensures
a smooth upgrade experience;
1) create accessor method on Smalltalk (if none of the existing are appropriate)
2) implement the old methods on new class in backwards compatability category
3) Deprecate method on SmalltalkImage, on the form:
doX: someThing
self deprecated: 'Use Smalltalk specializedArea x: someThing instead'
on: 'foo' in: 'bar'.
^self specializedArea x: someThing
(Ref: #os, #vm)
I've run into a few cases where this is not the case when moving to Pharo 5,
should they be changed, or am I wrong, and the procedure above is no longer
considered valuable?
Case 1:
SmalltalkImage removeFromShutDownList: aClass (and removeFromStartUpList:)
self deprecated:
'Please use registration methods provided in SessionManager /
registration category.',
String cr,
'ex: SessionManager default unregisterClassNamed: self name'.
There's a new #session accessor on SmalltalkImage, but...
1) SessionManager does not implement a backwards compatible protocol.
2) The deprecated message above is wrong, the Smalltalk session
unregisterClassNamed: is preferrable to referencing the class directly.
3) The deprecated method does nothing, rather than redirect to the new place.
Silent errors when deprecation warnings are turned of, yay.
4) The deprecation message uses the deprecated form which does not include the
parameters needed to know when to expect it removed forever.
Also, the corresponding addTo... methods have not been deprecated, but redirect
to SessionManager directly rather than through #session...
Case 2:
EndianDetector: Used to be Smalltalk #endianness
1) The method on SmalltalkImage has simply been removed, no deprecation.
2) Accessor remains the same, but all references in the base image has been
rewritten to use EndianDetector directly...
2) Would not Smalltalk platform be a reasonable place to put this
responsiblity, letting it use an EndianDetector behind the scenes? Both the
preexisting #endianness, as well as the new #isLittleEndian and #isBigEndian?
Cheers,
Henry
