Suggestions for the new Transform Api
Possibly the biggest issue I see with the current api is that it is very hard
to extend it in the future without breaking current implementations. For
example, I asked to be provided the LoggingManager for the task so I can
redirect stdout output inside the transform. This cannot be done without
changing the api. I have a couple suggestions to fix this issue, it would be
better to do it now while it's still in beta.
- Provide the gradle task that performs the transform to the transform method.
This way you can define an api for accessing information on the task that can
evolve over time. This for example, gives you the
LoggingManagerfor free. This would also allow the same api to be used by simply obtaining the task through normal gradle means.
Alternative: Provide a different class that only provides a subset of information about the task. This trades some flexibility with higher control on how this api will be used.
- Change the
Transforminterface to an abstract class. This allows you to add more methods in the future without breaking the current implementations by providing default implementations. As a bonus, some of the current methods likegetSecondaryFileInputs()can have default implementations as they would often just return an empty collection.
Alternative: Default methods in java 8 interfaces. Would achieve the same goal, but it's unlikely that it would be possible to force everyone to use compile with java 8 at this point in time.