Design decision for DexDump.cpp being written in C

[Douglas Goddard]

If this would be better suited for android-contrib, let me know and I'll redirect it there.

It looks to me that DexDump.cpp doesn't use much (if any) C++ specific sytax. 

Is there a reason behind this? 

Was the .cpp extension to conform to the rest of Android and make building easier?

If extending or modifying it, would adding in C++ be going against some best practice?

Thanks,

Doug

[Glenn Kasten]

git log dalvik/dexdump/DexDump.cpp 

especially commit bfc9799b1a53fd6f6136d07e6278d4538cf70f13

suggests that dexdump was originally written in C and then changed to C++.

The log also suggests that dexdump is maintained but stable,

and not under major new development.

dexdump is not in my technical area (audio), so I could be off-base here.

But I personally recommend not rewriting code

that's stable and working, unless something major new is needed. 

I've found that changing code that meets its

requirements is risky and not worth the benefit.

On the other hand, if you think dexdump does need major

new features, then that could perhaps be an excuse

to also make style changes.  In that case, I suggest

you first post your proposal to android-contrib, get some

positive consensus on android-contrib about your features and implementation

approach, and then being uploading a series of small CLs.