Re: g_(s)list_data()

[Helmethead <hoshem mel comcen com au>]

On Fri, May 25, 2001 at 02:31:16PM -0400, Owen Taylor wrote:
> 
> Eric Lemings <eric b lemings lmco com> writes:
> 
> > Joel Becker wrote:
> > 
> > > On Thu, May 24, 2001 at 05:08:18PM -0700, Derek Simkowiak wrote:
> > >
> > > >       Although g_list_next() exists, it has been agreed that there is
> > > > way too much code that directly accesses list->next to deprecate that kind
> > > > of peeking.  In short, even if list->next was meant to be private, through
> > > > real-world practice it has become public.  And since list->data is already
> > > > public, there is no need for g_list_data().
> > >
> > >         I know folks use list->next and list->data.  I am not, in any
> > > way, claiming we can fix it in existing code.  But we can provide pretty
> > > accessors for new code that some folks might like.
> > 
> > Personally, I too prefer information hiding, encapsulation, and all that jazz.
> > But the real answer to this question depends on whether the GLib team considers
> > the list structures as opaque data types or not.  If lists should be opaque
> > data types, then the data accessor should be added.  If not, then the next and
> > prev accessors should be removed.  Right now, the list structures are
> > "straddling the fence".
> 
> They are not opaque data structures, and we pretty much universally use 
> ->next, ->prev in GTK+ code.
> 
> But removing the wrapper sugar would just be breaking a lot of code for
> no good reason, I think.
> 

Maybe deprecate it to remove some general confusion?

> Regards,
>                                         Owen