[webkit-dev] WebCore/platform standalone library

[Michael Catanzaro]

On Wed, 2017-01-11 at 23:30 +0000, Olmstead, Don wrote:
> I had thought of PAL as a library that is internal to WebCore that
> provides a clear porting layer. I would not expect anyone outside of
> WebCore to be linking to it.

So honestly, I don't think this is very realistic. Lots of stuff
currently under WebCore/platform needs to be used by WebKit and
WebKit2. ResourceHandle, for example. Or TextChecker. These are just
the very first two that come to mind. So if we want PAL to be
completely internal to WebCore, then we're not going to be able to get
rid of WebCore/platform, and then we'll have two different platform
abstraction libraries. That does not seem desirable. Moreover, the
criterion to determine whether a class should go in PAL or platform
would then be whether the stuff needs to be accessed from WebKit layers
or not. That doesn't seem useful.

So I think we should drop that goal. (Still really excited for PAL, of
course.)

On Wed, 2017-01-11 at 23:30 +0000, Olmstead, Don wrote:
> Whatever the consensus is we’re looking forward to working on getting
> the PAL layer up and running. We’re working on rebooting our port so
> we’re in a good position to help build it out and do any refactoring
> to help create a clear layering. Having a clear porting layer,
> especially one with tests, is something we’re hoping will be
> beneficial to all the ports.

This is exciting to hear too!

Michael