On Sat, Jan 26, 2013 at 7:58 PM, Stelian Ionescu <sionescu@cddr.org> wrote:
I think the whole "temporary package" thing is a failure, and we
What problems does it actually cause ?
It causes having to maintain this weird system, having functions and classes the symbols of which become inaccessible, etc. It causes users having the wrong expectations and/or having to learn some magic semantics that do not apply to other cases.
Why inaccessible ?
Because the package was delete-package'd in an unwind-protect form after loading the .asd file, and its symbols are thereafter uninterned.
* Using TRUENAME to simplify .asd management with a link farm. Big win at the time, though ultimately not scalable.
I still use this and love it. Actually, I'd like to be able to be allowed to return to the old behavior where ASDF re-initializes the source registry on every find-system. Given that I only use quicklisp and a symlink directory on an SSD, that's preferable(I don't use the :directory scanning thing).
I respect the *central-registry* feature and will keep supporting it. It's great for advanced developers like you. Don't want no caching? Keep using the *central-registry*, it's not going away any time soon. However, the caching is a big win for those of us who use :tree, especially on implementations on which scanning is slow. And that means most end-users and newbies, who want things to just work with minimal configuration (i.e. none at all if possible). —♯ƒ • François-René ÐVB Rideau •Reflection&Cybernethics• http://fare.tunes.org The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools. — Herbert Spencer