As we are making progress on preparing the Sage library for modularization ( https://trac.sagemath.org/ticket/29705), here's a discussion of three things that need to be decided whenever a portion of the Sage library is modularized:
*(1) Namespace:* Will it be imported as (+) "from sage.hermeneutics.quantum import QuantumGravity" or (-) "from transformative_hermeneutics.quantum import QuantumGravity"? *(2)* *Distribution name (= project name):* Will it be installed using "pip install transformative-hermeneutics" or "pip install sagemath-hermeneutics"? *(3) Source repository:* Is the source maintained as part of the Sage repository using Trac tickets (MONOREPO); or in a separate repository on GitHub, GitLab, ... (MULTIREPO)? This post is dedicated to the MONOREPO vs. MULTIREPO question, and how it relates to (1) and (2). *Some details about MONOREPO:* The Sage repository already contains several separate distribution source trees. Since Sage 9.4 they are located in the subdirectory SAGE_ROOT/pkgs (see https://wiki.sagemath.org/ReleaseTours/sage-9.4#New_location_for_distribution_package_sources:_SAGE_ROOT.2Fpkgs). For example, SAGE_ROOT/pkgs/*sage-sws2rst* is a self-contained source tree of this distribution package: It has standard Python packaging files such as setup.py. SAGE_ROOT/pkgs/*sagemath-standard* is also a source tree of this distribution package; but it is created in part using symbolic links into SAGE_ROOT/src. This is the trick that has allowed the modularization effort to *keep the SAGE_ROOT/src tree monolithic: *Modularization has been happening behind the scenes and will not change where Sage developers find the source files. *In favor of MONOREPO:* + The Sage developer community is used to using Trac + The process is well defined: No code "ownership" (all Sage developers can change any code, subject to peer review); changes are synchronized + There is implicit integration testing with all of Sage *Drawbacks of MONOREPO:* - Extra hurdle for attracting new developers from outside the Sage developer community (everyone who is not already a Sage developer uses GitHub or similar) - Testing infrastructure needs to be set up and maintained separately; in particular, integration testing with Sage. *Evidence:* - The pynac situation -- now finally resolved by merging it into the Sage library (https://wiki.sagemath.org/ReleaseTours/sage-9.5#Modularization_and_packaging_changes) - Even for separate git repositories hosted in the SageMath GitHub organization (https://github.com/sagemath/), code ownership and review workflow are unclear. - For example, https://github.com/sagemath/sage-numerical-backends-coin provides no information on how to contribute (commonly expected in a file CONTRIBUTING.md) - Neither does https://github.com/sagemath/cysignals, which moreover looks abandoned: Issues and PRs are not tended to. Is it subject to peer review like other parts of Sage? Who is in charge of merging PRs? - Similar issues with https://github.com/sagemath/cypari2 *Recommendation:* Keep MONOREPO for all distributions that fill the sage.PAC.KAGE.MODULE namespace (= distribution packages named *sagemath-... *-- according to my recommendation in part I). *Recommendation: *For distributions that do not use the sage.PAC.KAGE.MODULE namespace (= distribution packages named something other than sagemath-... -- according to my recommendation in part I), weigh the benefits vs. drawbacks of MONOREPO vs. MULTIREPO. It is also simple enough for a distribution to start out being developed inside of the Sage MONOREPO and to be split out to a separate repository later. *Recommendation:* Discuss the development workflow for projects in the https://github.com/sagemath organization, and document it in files CONTRIBUTING.md in the individual repositories. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "sage-devel" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to sage-devel+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/sage-devel/1572d163-abba-4fde-b348-5f31166d4b87n%40googlegroups.com.
