What goes in extras and what goes in base?

[Douglas Bates]

Now that the extras directory is automatically on the LOAD_PATH it is convenient to build up a chain of source files through require calls.  For example, extras/linalg_suitesparse.jl begins with

require("linalg_sparse.jl")

which, in turn, has 

require("sparse.jl")

so the user doesn't need to remember all the grubby details of what is the chain of dependencies.  This has a strange effect that source files in extras are now easier to work with than source files in base that are not mentioned in sysimg.jl (distributions.jl is one).  Perhaps this is an oversight but I think it has now become the case that it is better to move any source files in base that are not mentioned in sysimg.jl into extras.

[Jeff Bezanson]

I tend to agree; base should be fairly minimal, like the standard C library. And sysimg and base should be the same set of files.

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[John Myles White]

I also agree that it would be nice to move over files like distributions.jl to extras.

 

-- John

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[Douglas Bates]

On Monday, July 16, 2012 10:54:14 PM UTC-5, John Myles White wrote:

I also agree that it would be nice to move over files like distributions.jl to extras.

 

Done