On Feb 8, 2008, at 1:27 AM, Ted Husted wrote:
Here's my binding +1 on the Thrift proposal.
+1!
On Jan 23, 2008 9:07 PM, Mark Slee <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Hi all,
We've just posted the Apache Incubator proposal for Thrift onto the
Wiki:
http://wiki.apache.org/incubator/ThriftProposal
Proposal also pasted below for mail archive purposes...
cheers,
- Leo
----
= Thrift Proposal =
== Abstract ==
Thrift is a framework for efficient cross-language data
serialization, RPC, and server programming.
== Proposal ==
Thrift is a software library and set of code-generation tools
designed to expedite development and implementation of efficient and
scalable backend services. Its primary goal is to enable efficient
and reliable communication across programming languages by
abstracting the portions of each language that tend to require the
most customization into a common library that is implemented in each
language. Specifically, Thrift allows developers to define datatypes
and service interfaces in a single language-neutral file and generate
all the necessary code to build RPC clients and servers.
== Background ==
Thrift was initially developed at Facebook starting in 2006 to power
RPC and data logging for a number of backend services for the site,
such as Search and News Feed. The package was designed for open
source, and was released in early 2007. Since then, a number of other
developers have submitted patches to the project and become de facto
owners of major parts. Support for many languages has been developed
entirely outside of Facebook.
== Rationale ==
The need for high performance, reliable communication across
different programming languages seems to be growing more and more
common in modern programming, particularly when writing software for
the web. Historically, this problem has forced developers to
standardize on one language/framework or adopt heavier-weight
systems, such as CORBA or SOAP. These systems tend to make tradeoffs
that aren't always ideal for the use case. SOAP, for example, may be
ideal for calling across disparate web services, but is unnecessarily
verbose for service calls on an intranet.
Most of these systems also require developers to learn the
particulars of their type systems, especially when dealing with
containers or objects. One of the primary goals of Thrift is to allow
developers to program across languages while still using the standard
idioms and style in each language. Custom type systems also makes
code reuse more difficult. Thrift allows developers to avoid creating
unnecessary wrapper interfaces by operating directly on native types.
== Initial Goals ==
Though the bulk of Thrift's initial development is complete, there
are still some large areas for future development. Some areas we hope
to focus on in Apache:
* Better log storage/replay
* Meta-data serialization
* Higher-performance serialization, standard C extension model
across Python/PHP/etc.
* Extending the abstraction to a multi-client that can fan-out
across multiple servers
== Current Status ==
=== Meritocracy ===
Though initial development was done at Facebook, Thrift was intended
to be released as an open source project from its inception. Since
release, many developers have adopted the framework and submitted
significant patches. Large portions of the codebase are now managed
by those most familiar with and responsible for them. Any potentially
controversial change is discussed on the public mailing list (http://
lists.pub.facebook.com/mailman/listinfo/thrift/) and good suggestions
are frequently implemented.
=== Community ===
Thrift is currently in use across a number of organizations, and we
expect this to grow as Thrift becomes a relevant and useful tool for
building more open source projects.
=== Core Developers ===
Thrift currently has developers across many organizations (e.g.
Facebook, Powerset, ReCaptcha, AmieStreet), many of whom are
contributors to other open source projects.
=== Alignment ===
Thrift is designed to integrate cleanly with other projects. We think
this is a particularly good fit for Apache due to integration
potential with other projects, specifically Hadoop/Hbase.
== Known Risks ==
=== Orphaned Products ===
Thrift is already deployed into production at multiple large websites
that are frequently iterating on the featureset. There's no realistic
chance of it becoming orphaned.
=== Inexperience with Open Source ===
The project has already been open source for nearly a year and has
attracted many developers already. Part of the reason to join Apache
is to make the project work even better as open source by removing
some obstacles, such as Facebook hosting the SVN, and putting the
resources all in a truly open space, being able to have more
committers, etc. Most of the core developers have a history of
working with open source tools.
=== Homogenous Developers ===
The current set of developers work across a variety of organizations.
Naturally, most are websites with significant backend structure (and
hence a need for Thrift), but the problems they are solving are
diverse, and many don't work in the same programming languages.
=== Reliance on Salaried Developers ===
Thrift is a "means to an end." None of the developers (to my
knowledge) working on Thrift are salaried specifically to work on
Thrift. Rather, Thrift is useful in building other projects, which
may or may not be for salary. Realistically, it is likely that a
decent portion of work on Thrift will be done by someone at a
company, but not specifically tasked with working on Thrift. So long
as the tool is relevant and useful, this should result in developers
contributing time both at work and personally.
=== Relationships with Other Apache Projects ===
Thrift has already been introduced into the Hbase project. (See
https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/HADOOP-2389) Since Thrift is a
development tool, it is designed and well-suited for use in other
projects. As a start, we definitely plan to continue integration work
with Hbase.
=== An Excessive Fascination with the Apache Brand ===
Thrift has already attracted a stable base of developers. The reasons
for joining Apache are not to advertise the project, but rather to
demonstrate the commitment to open source by divorcing the trunk from
any one corporation and pursuing further integration with other
Apache projects.
== Documentation ==
Existing page:
http://developers.facebook.com/thrift/
Mailing list (with archives):
http://lists.pub.facebook.com/mailman/listinfo/thrift/
== Initial Source ==
Currently hosted by Facebook:
http://svn.facebook.com/svnroot/thrift/
== Source and Intellectual Property Submission Plan ==
All code currently hosted in the Facebook public SVN folder will be
contributed.
== External Dependencies ==
All dependencies (libevent, Boost) have Apache compatible licenses.
== Cryptography ==
None
== Required Resources ==
=== Mailing lists ===
* thrift-dev
* thrift-private
=== Subversion Directory ===
https://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/incubator/thrift
We'd also be interested in using git to store the repo. Does apache
have infrastucture set up to support that? It'd make it easier for
non-committer developers to work on patches, checkpoint commits, etc.
=== Issue Tracking ===
JIRA Thrift
== Initial Committers ==
* Mark Slee (mcslee at facebook dot com)
* Aditya Agarwal (aditya at facebook dot com)
* Marc Kwiatkowski (marc at facebook dot com)
* David Reiss (david at facebook dot com)
* James Wang (jwang at facebook dot com)
* Chris Piro (cpiro at facebook dot com)
* Ben Maurer (bmaurer at andrew dot cmu dot edu)
* Kevin Clark (kevin at powerset dot com)
* Jake Luciani (jakers at gmail dot com)
== Affiliations ==
* People with Facebook email addresses - Facebook
* Ben Maurer - ReCaptcha
* Kevin Clark - Powerset
== Sponsors ==
=== Champion ===
* Doug Cutting
=== Mentors ===
* Paul Querna
* Upayavira
* Jason van Zyl
=== Sponsoring Entity ===
* Incubator
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