I think I can articulate the general idea here, though I expect it is not deployed consistently.
Yes there's a general desire to make APIs consistent across languages. Python and Scala should track pretty closely, even if R isn't really that consistent. SQL is a somewhat different case. There are functions that aren't _that_ useful in general, kind of niche, but nevertheless exist in other SQL systems, most notably Hive. It's useful to try to expand SQL support to cover those to ease migration and interoperability. But it may not make enough sense to maintain those functions in Scala, and Python, and R, because they're niche. I think that was what you saw with regexp_extract_all. As you can see there isn't perfect agreement on where to draw those lines. But I think the theory has been mostly consistent over time, if not the execution. It isn't that regexp_extract_all (for example) is useless outside SQL, just, where do you draw the line? Supporting 10s of random SQL functions across 3 other languages has a cost, which has to be weighed against benefit, which we can never measure well except anecdotally: one or two people say "I want this" in a sea of hundreds of thousands of users. (I'm not sure about CalendarType - just I know that date/time types are hard even within, say, the JVM, let alone across languages) For this specific case, I think there is a fine argument that regexp_extract_all should be added simply for consistency with regexp_extract. I can also see the argument that regexp_extract was a step too far, but, what's public is now a public API. I'll also say that the cost of adding API functions grows as a project matures, and whereas it might have made sense to add this at an earlier time, it might not make sense now. I come out neutral on this specific case, but would not override the opinion of other committers. But I hope that explains the logic that I think underpins what you're hearing. On Thu, Jan 28, 2021 at 2:23 PM MrPowers <matthewkevinpow...@gmail.com> wrote: > Thank you all for your amazing work on this project. Spark has a great > public interface and the source code is clean. The core team has done a > great job building and maintaining this project. My emails / GitHub > comments focus on the 1% that we might be able to improve. > > Pull requests / suggestions for improvements can come across as negative, > but I'm nothing but happy & positive about this project. The source code > is > delightful to read and the internal abstractions are beautiful. > > *API consistency* > > The SQL, Scala, and Python APIs are generally consistent. They all have a > reverse function for example. > > Some of the new PRs have arguments against consistent rollout of functions > across the APIs. This seems like a break in the traditional Spark > development process when functions were implemented in all APIs (except for > functions that only make sense for certain APIs like createDataset and > toDS). > > The default has shifted from consistent application of function across APIs > to "case by case determination". > > *Examples* > > * The regexp_extract_all function was recently added to the SQL API. It > was > then added to the Scala API, but then removed from the Scala API > <https://github.com/apache/spark/pull/31346> . > > * There is an ongoing discussion on if CalendarType will be added to the > Python API <https://github.com/apache/spark/pull/29935> > > *Arguments against adding functions like regexp_extract_all to the Scala > API:* > > * Some of these functions are SQL specific and don't make sense for the > other languages > > * Scala users can access the SQL functions via expr > > *Argument rebuttal* > > I don't understand the "some of the functions are SQL specific argument". > regexp_extract_all fills a gap in the API. Users have been forced to use > UDF workarounds for this in the past. Users from all APIs need this > solution. > > Using expr isn't developer friendly. Scala / Python users don't want to > manipulate SQL strings. Nesting functions in SQL strings is complicated. > The quoting and escaping is all different. Figuring out how to invoke > regexp_replace(col("word1"), "//", "\\,") via expr would be a real pain - > would need to figure out SQL quoting, SQL escaping, and how to access > column > names instead of a column object. > > Any of the org.apache.spark.sql.functions can be invoked via expr. The > core > reason the Scala/Python APIs exist is so that developers don't need to > manipulate strings for expr. > > regexp_extract_all should be added to the Scala API for the same reasons > that regexp_extract was added to the Scala API. > > *Next steps* > > * I'd like to better understand why we've broken from the traditional Spark > development process of "consistently implementing functions across all > APIs" > to "selectively implementing functions in certain APIs" > > * Hopefully shift the burden of proof to those in favor of inconsistent > application. Consistent application should be the default. > > Thank you all for your excellent work on this project. > > - Matthew Powers (GitHub: MrPowers) > > > > -- > Sent from: http://apache-spark-developers-list.1001551.n3.nabble.com/ > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@spark.apache.org > >
