[zeromq-dev] new libzmq API

[Pieter Hintjens]

On Thu, Jan 17, 2013 at 11:50 PM, MinRK <benjaminrk at gmail.com> wrote:

> This is a clone of pyzmq's own MonitoredQueue that does less.  MQ does two
> things that proxy does not:
>   1. there is a prefix message for messages sent via the side socket, so
> that receivers can actually tell where they came from
>   2. MonitoredQueue works with ROUTER:ROUTER configurations, allowing it to
> act as a multiplexer device.
>
> I think zmq_proxy would be a better function if it did one or both of these,
> but the first would require changing the zmq_proxy API,
> which is unfortunately set in stone now that there has been a stable
> release.
>
> The inertia involved in a change to zmq_proxy again raises all the same
> arguments that led to the attempted removal of zmq_device.

I don't see any inertia. No-one's made a pull request that was refused
or delayed, and since zmq_proxy was new, and I suspect few people use
it, I think extending or changing the API would be uncontroversial.
zmq_proxy was waiting for some suggestions, it's obviously a first
draft.

I'm not familiar with the MQ functionality, perhaps you can explain more:

* is the prefix configurable, and if so, how do you configure it?
* what precisely do you mean with ROUTER-ROUTER configurations?

> 2. zmq_ctx_set vs zmq_setctxopt

You mean zmq_sock_set vs. zmq_setsockopt, right?

> should we add zmq_sock_set/get, so that libzmq is consistent?
> It's clear that zeromq does not worry about renaming/deprecating functions
> if devs decide a different name is simply preferable (e.g. zmq_ctx_destroy).

Yes, I think we've rolled over from the old inconsistent API to a
cleaner one without breaking applications. The deprecated names will
stay there as long as anyone needs them.

I like your suggestion of zmq_sock_set and zmq_sock_get, it makes
great sense. Consistency is worth striving for.

For a start I'd definitely use this syntax in the binding; it's
already the style used in CZMQ (zsocket_set_xxx).

> 3. zmq_ctx_destroy
>...
> I realize that I missed the window for much of this conversation, because I
> was writing my thesis while these decisions were made,
> and libzmq was released, but I would appreciate some input.

:-) Yes, these are great criticisms that would have been helpful a
while back. Better late than never, and I hope your thesis was a hit.

+1 on renaming zmq_ctx_destroy to _term and deprecating _destroy.

Do you want to make these changes or should someone else?

-Pieter