Re: [ovirt-devel] Some ideas on oVirt Java SDK

From: "Juan Hernández" <jhernand(a)redhat.com&gt; To: "Vojtech Szocs" <vszocs(a)redhat.com&gt; Cc: devel(a)ovirt.org, "Michael Pasternak" <mishka8520(a)yahoo.com&gt; Sent: Tuesday, December 2, 2014 10:02:36 AM Subject: Re: [ovirt-devel] Some ideas on oVirt Java SDK On 12/01/2014 06:36 PM, Vojtech Szocs wrote: > > > ----- Original Message ----- >> From: "Juan Hernández" <jhernand(a)redhat.com&gt; >> To: "Vojtech Szocs" <vszocs(a)redhat.com&gt; >> Cc: devel(a)ovirt.org >> Sent: Monday, December 1, 2014 4:24:45 PM >> Subject: Re: [ovirt-devel] Some ideas on oVirt Java SDK >> >> On 12/01/2014 04:13 PM, Vojtech Szocs wrote: >>> >>> >>> ----- Original Message ----- >>>> From: "Juan Hernández" <jhernand(a)redhat.com&gt; >>>> To: "Michael Pasternak" <mishka8520(a)yahoo.com&gt;, "Vojtech Szocs" >>>> <vszocs(a)redhat.com&gt;, devel(a)ovirt.org >>>> Sent: Monday, December 1, 2014 9:54:51 AM >>>> Subject: Re: [ovirt-devel] Some ideas on oVirt Java SDK >>>> >>>> On 11/30/2014 12:26 PM, Michael Pasternak wrote: >>>>> Hey Vojtech, >>>>> >>>>> How are you?, please see my reply inline. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> On Friday, November 28, 2014 5:26 PM, Vojtech Szocs >>>>> <vszocs(a)redhat.com <mailto:vszocs@redhat.com>> wrote: >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Hi guys, >>>>> >>>>> since the initial (small, working & well-tested) version of oVirtJS >>>>> JavaScript SDK is finished [*], I've started working on GWT wrapper >>>>> for oVirtJS. >>>>> >>>>> While analyzing/reverse-engineering oVirt Java SDK, some thoughts >>>>> came to my mind, and I wanted to share them with you. >>>>> >>>>> [*] TODO(vszocs) upload new patchset with all recent changes >>>>> >>>>> First, the way XJC (JAXB binding compiler that generates Java beans >>>>> out of REST XSD schema) is invoked looks a bit weird to me, as Java >>>>> SDK's XsdCodegen does this: >>>>> >>>>> Runtime.getRuntime().exec(command) >>>>> >>>>> Why not simply use existing Maven plugins to invoke XJC? >>>>> - either: https://github.com/highsource/maven-jaxb2-plugin >>>>> <https://github.com/highsource/maven-jaxb2-plugin> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> [MP] sdk was using jaxb to begin with, it was replaced with XJC just >>>>> recently, >>>>> btw Juan, what was the motivation behind this? >>>> >>>> This didn't change, the use of "xjc" is there since commit 95a25a4, Nov >>>> 12 2012. >>>> >>>> Note that using Maven for this isn't as simple as it may look. The >>>> development model of the SDK is that the maven build does *not* generate >>>> any code, it just builds what has been manually generated previously. >>> >>> To clarify, my question was meant for "ovirt-engine-sdk-java-codegen" >>> project and its org.ovirt.engine.sdk.codegen.Main class that produces >>> Java classes out of XSD as part of XsdCodegen.generate() method. >>> >>> But if XsdCodegen invokes XJC programatically, what is the purpose of: >>> >>> org.jvnet.jaxb2.maven2:maven-jaxb22-plugin:generate >>> >>> in "ovirt-engine-sdk-java-codegen" project's pom.xml? >>> >>> Is it related to what XsdCodegen is doing? >>> >> >> The code generator invokes "xjc" directly in order to generate from the >> XML schema the code that will eventually be part of the generated SDK. >> In order to do its work it needs to parse the RSDL metadata, and for >> that it uses JAXB and classes generated from the XML schema. Those >> classes are generated as part of the build process of the code >> generator. So the XML schema is converted into Java classes twice: once >> for the internal use of the generator (during build time of the >> generator), and another time for the generated SDK (during run time of >> the generator). This is convenient in order to avoid dependencies >> between the generator and the SDK. > > Thanks for clarification. > > IMHO calling XJC just to generate JAXB code that parses RSDL data > is an overkill. In oVirtJS GWT wrapper project, I'm parsing RSDL > as XML file directly. > The "xjc" compiler isn't called directly to generate the code to parse RSDL, it is called to generate the code of the SDK.

The code that the generator uses internally is generated using the Maven plugin (which in turn calls "xjc").

We could argue about the convenience of using JAXB or manually parsing the RSDL, but it won't take us anywhere. If you find it convenient parsing it directly just do it. > Conceptually, RSDL definition shouldn't even be inside api.xsd: > > <xs:element name="rsdl" type="RSDL"/> > > Above ^^ is unrelated to REST entity schema, it describes RSDL > schema. It's inside api.xsd just to parse RSDL via JAXB. Entity > schema and RSDL schema are two separate things. > > I suggest to split above into separate file, i.e. rsdl.xsd > and reference shared types (like "Version") from api.xsd. > This would be the proper separation these two schemas. > The RSDL is just one resource offered by the RESTAPI, like a VM or a host. It supports multiple formats (XML, JSON, etc) and it is consumed by clients. So its entities, like any other entity, must be described in the XML schema. We only have one XML schema, and we can split it as it would break backwards compatibility.

>> >>>> >>>>> (REST api uses jaxb as well so we used to have 1x1 mappings) >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> - or: http://mojo.codehaus.org/jaxb2-maven-plugin/ >>>>> <http://mojo.codehaus.org/jaxb2-maven-plugin/> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> [MP] same. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Second, and most importantly, what's the point of having "group" >>>>> entities? I'll give an example - api.xsd contains this: >>>>> >>>>> <xs:complexType name="DataCenters"> >>>>> <xs:complexContent> >>>>> <xs:extension base="BaseResources"> >>>>> <xs:sequence> >>>>> <xs:annotation> >>>>> <xs:appinfo> >>>>> <jaxb:property name="DataCenters"/> >>>>> </xs:appinfo> >>>>> </xs:annotation> >>>>> <xs:element ref="data_center" minOccurs="0" >>>>> maxOccurs="unbounded"/> >>>>> </xs:sequence> >>>>> </xs:extension> >>>>> </xs:complexContent> >>>>> </xs:complexType> >>>>> >>>>> (Same as above for Hosts, Clusters, VMs, etc.) >>>>> >>>>> This results in following (IMHO rather meaningless) Java class >>>>> being generated by XJC: >>>>> >>>>> public class DataCenters extends BaseResources { >>>>> >>>>> @XmlElement(name = "data_center") >>>>> protected List<DataCenter> dataCenters; >>>>> >>>>> public List<DataCenter> getDataCenters() { >>>>> if (dataCenters == null) { >>>>> dataCenters = new ArrayList<DataCenter>(); >>>>> } >>>>> return this.dataCenters; >>>>> } >>>>> >>>>> public boolean isSetDataCenters() { >>>>> return ((this.dataCenters!= >>>>> null)&&(!this.dataCenters.isEmpty())); >>>>> } >>>>> >>>>> public void unsetDataCenters() { >>>>> this.dataCenters = null; >>>>> } >>>>> >>>>> } >>>>> >>>>> Instead, we could use @XmlElementWrapper as described in [1] >>>>> to avoid generating "group" entities altogether. >>>>> >>>>> [1] https://github.com/dmak/jaxb-xew-plugin >>>>> <https://github.com/dmak/jaxb-xew-plugin> >>>>> >>>>> The fact that Java SDK provides decorator for each specific >>>>> resource collection (like DataCenters), instead of having ONE >>>>> resource collection type, greatly complicates overall design >>>>> and code-gen aspect. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> [MP] Well, i guess now is speaking JS constraints ghost, am i right?, >>>>> in any case, the reasons for having decorator per collection are: >>>>> >>>>> 1. compliance with REST API (all SDKs and REST api are sharing same >>>>> well >>>>> know architecture) >>>>> 2. "decorator" is a well known and commonly used java design pattern >>>>> 3. having one resource type serving all collections would create a >>>>> bottleneck >>>>> (well it might depend on how you implementing it, but still in my view >>>>> it's less convenient/readable >>>>> than dedicated collection with own context, verbs and behavior), >>>>> >>>>> after all the purpose of sdk is being java client serving application >>>>> in >>>>> "Java" way >>>>> (i.e type-safe + well bounded interface), while JS use-cases & >>>>> paradigms >>>>> are totally >>>>> different, just consider: >>>>> >>>>> [1] java-sdk stile >>>>> >>>>> Disk snapshotDisk = >>>>> api.getVms().get('my-vm').getSnapshots().get('my-snapshot').getDisks().get('my-disk') >>>>> >>>>> [2] JS style you propose >>>>> >>>>> Disk snapshotDisk = getCollections().get(new Params[] { Disk.class, >>>>> 'my-vm', 'my-snapshot', 'my-disk'}) >>>>> >>>>> notice: >>>>> ===== >>>>> >>>>> in [2] you have a bunch of parameters disconnected form any context >>>>> where order >>>>> is *important* (other way you heuristic guesses what user meaning by >>>>> these params won't work), >>>>> obviously it's fragile and error prone, >>>>> >>>>> while [1] is readable, well bounded, defending it's consumers from >>>>> potentials errors >>>>> (exactly what SDK should look like), >>>>> >>>>> hope it helps. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> On Friday, November 28, 2014 5:26 PM, Vojtech Szocs <vszocs(a)redhat.com&gt; >>>>> wrote: >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Hi guys, >>>>> >>>>> since the initial (small, working & well-tested) version of oVirtJS >>>>> JavaScript SDK is finished [*], I've started working on GWT wrapper >>>>> for oVirtJS. >>>>> >>>>> While analyzing/reverse-engineering oVirt Java SDK, some thoughts >>>>> came to my mind, and I wanted to share them with you. >>>>> >>>>> [*] TODO(vszocs) upload new patchset with all recent changes >>>>> >>>>> First, the way XJC (JAXB binding compiler that generates Java beans >>>>> out of REST XSD schema) is invoked looks a bit weird to me, as Java >>>>> SDK's XsdCodegen does this: >>>>> >>>>> Runtime.getRuntime().exec(command) >>>>> >>>>> Why not simply use existing Maven plugins to invoke XJC? >>>>> - either: https://github.com/highsource/maven-jaxb2-plugin >>>>> - or: http://mojo.codehaus.org/jaxb2-maven-plugin/ >>>>> >>>>> Second, and most importantly, what's the point of having "group" >>>>> entities? I'll give an example - api.xsd contains this: >>>>> >>>>> <xs:complexType name="DataCenters"> >>>>> <xs:complexContent> >>>>> <xs:extension base="BaseResources"> >>>>> <xs:sequence> >>>>> <xs:annotation> >>>>> <xs:appinfo> >>>>> <jaxb:property name="DataCenters"/> >>>>> </xs:appinfo> >>>>> </xs:annotation> >>>>> <xs:element ref="data_center" minOccurs="0" >>>>> maxOccurs="unbounded"/> >>>>> </xs:sequence> >>>>> </xs:extension> >>>>> </xs:complexContent> >>>>> </xs:complexType> >>>>> >>>>> (Same as above for Hosts, Clusters, VMs, etc.) >>>>> >>>>> This results in following (IMHO rather meaningless) Java class >>>>> being generated by XJC: >>>>> >>>>> public class DataCenters extends BaseResources { >>>>> >>>>> @XmlElement(name = "data_center") >>>>> protected List<DataCenter> dataCenters; >>>>> >>>>> public List<DataCenter> getDataCenters() { >>>>> if (dataCenters == null) { >>>>> dataCenters = new ArrayList<DataCenter>(); >>>>> } >>>>> return this.dataCenters; >>>>> } >>>>> >>>>> public boolean isSetDataCenters() { >>>>> return ((this.dataCenters!= >>>>> null)&&(!this.dataCenters.isEmpty())); >>>>> } >>>>> >>>>> public void unsetDataCenters() { >>>>> this.dataCenters = null; >>>>> } >>>>> >>>>> } >>>>> >>>>> Instead, we could use @XmlElementWrapper as described in [1] >>>>> to avoid generating "group" entities altogether. >>>>> >>>>> [1] https://github.com/dmak/jaxb-xew-plugin >>>>> >>>>> The fact that Java SDK provides decorator for each specific >>>>> resource collection (like DataCenters), instead of having ONE >>>>> resource collection type, greatly complicates overall design >>>>> and code-gen aspect. >>>>> >>>>> In oVirtJS GWT wrapper, we'll avoid above complication through >>>>> single resource collection type (having common methods like >>>>> get(id), list() etc) for all resources. >>>>> >>>>> Regards, >>>>> Vojtech >> -- Dirección Comercial: C/Jose Bardasano Baos, 9, Edif. 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