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Groups > comp.lang.java.programmer > #26550

Re: Fixing "typos" in enums...

From Arivald <NOSPAMarivald@interia.pl>
Newsgroups comp.lang.java.programmer
Subject Re: Fixing "typos" in enums...
Date 2013-11-19 00:29 +0100
Organization Dialog Net
Message-ID <l6e7t9$b60$1@news.dialog.net.pl> (permalink)
References <slrnl8cing.mol.avl@gamma.logic.tuwien.ac.at>

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W dniu 2013-11-15 17:25, Andreas Leitgeb pisze:
> Let's assume, some non native English speaker writes up
> a library, that's really useful and gaining broader use.
>
> Now, the author may have once caught up some misspelling
> of a common word (like e.g. thinking that "first" was
> spelled "furst" and that with a confidence level ways
> above "I'd better look this up").
>
> Eventually this misspelling goes into an enum constant,
> and by the time the first user reports it, the library
> is already too much in use to lightheartedly apply
> Plan "A" (namely fixing the typo and thereby inducing a
> compatibility issue)
>
> Now, Plan B could be to rename the enum constant, but add
> a public static field by the old bad name (initialized
> with the reference to the spelling-corrected field), to
> alleviate the compatibility issue at least for those who
> merely used the enum's field's name in their code.
>
>   // public enum Foo { FURST, SECOND }
>   public enum Foo { FIRST, SECOND; public static final FURST = FIRST; }
>
> Any user having done a switch over that enum will still
> need to modify his code. Ditto anyone doing string comparisons
> on foo.name(), but that is most probably a bad idea, anyway.
>
> I'd further denote "Just leave the typo in" as "Plan *Z*",
> and ask for better strategies. (at least better than Plan Z)
>
> PS: I vaguely remember that even Sun Java had some typos in its
>    API, but that predated enums, so adding a second constant with
>    same value but corrected name was a triviality back then...
>
> PPS: a similar problem could arise with misspelled class names,
>    but that's not currently in my focus.
>

Leave current API as is. But with major upgrade of library, change 
package name (ex com.me.superlib => com.me.superlib2), and in new 
version use correctly spelled enums and other names.

Anyone who switch to new version of library will need to adapt and 
refactor code anyway, so fixing misspelling wont be a problem.

-- 
Arivald

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Thread

Fixing "typos" in enums... Andreas Leitgeb <avl@gamma.logic.tuwien.ac.at> - 2013-11-15 16:25 +0000
  Re: Fixing "typos" in enums... markspace <markspace@nospam.nospam> - 2013-11-15 09:05 -0800
    Re: Fixing "typos" in enums... Andreas Leitgeb <avl@gamma.logic.tuwien.ac.at> - 2013-11-18 17:20 +0000
      Re: Fixing "typos" in enums... markspace <markspace@nospam.nospam> - 2013-11-18 09:33 -0800
        Re: Fixing "typos" in enums... Eric Sosman <esosman@comcast-dot-net.invalid> - 2013-11-18 13:37 -0500
        Re: Fixing "typos" in enums... Andreas Leitgeb <avl@gamma.logic.tuwien.ac.at> - 2013-11-18 18:58 +0000
          Re: Fixing "typos" in enums... markspace <markspace@nospam.nospam> - 2013-11-18 11:35 -0800
            Re: Fixing "typos" in enums... Andreas Leitgeb <avl@gamma.logic.tuwien.ac.at> - 2013-11-18 20:34 +0000
  Re: Fixing "typos" in enums... Robert Klemme <shortcutter@googlemail.com> - 2013-11-15 20:10 +0100
    Re: Fixing "typos" in enums... Andreas Leitgeb <avl@gamma.logic.tuwien.ac.at> - 2013-11-18 17:29 +0000
      Re: Fixing "typos" in enums... Robert Klemme <shortcutter@googlemail.com> - 2013-11-18 19:38 +0100
        Re: Fixing "typos" in enums... Andreas Leitgeb <avl@gamma.logic.tuwien.ac.at> - 2013-11-18 19:34 +0000
  Re: Fixing "typos" in enums... Jan Burse <janburse@fastmail.fm> - 2013-11-16 10:16 +0100
    Re: Fixing "typos" in enums... Andreas Leitgeb <avl@gamma.logic.tuwien.ac.at> - 2013-11-18 18:25 +0000
      Re: Fixing "typos" in enums... Eric Sosman <esosman@comcast-dot-net.invalid> - 2013-11-18 13:45 -0500
        Re: Fixing "typos" in enums... Robert Klemme <shortcutter@googlemail.com> - 2013-11-18 20:20 +0100
        Re: Fixing "typos" in enums... Andreas Leitgeb <avl@gamma.logic.tuwien.ac.at> - 2013-11-18 20:09 +0000
          Re: Fixing "typos" in enums... Eric Sosman <esosman@comcast-dot-net.invalid> - 2013-11-18 17:00 -0500
            Re: Fixing "typos" in enums... Andreas Leitgeb <avl@gamma.logic.tuwien.ac.at> - 2013-11-19 15:39 +0000
  Re: Fixing "typos" in enums... Arivald <NOSPAMarivald@interia.pl> - 2013-11-19 00:29 +0100
    Re: Fixing "typos" in enums... lipska the kat <"lipskathekat at yahoo dot co dot uk"> - 2013-11-19 11:14 +0000

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