+1, I think this is a lot clearer.
On Tue, Apr 11, 2017 at 2:24 PM, Stephen Sisk <s...@google.com.invalid> wrote: > strong +1 for changing the name away from sideOutput - the fact that > sideInput and sideOutput are not really related was definitely a source of > confusion for me when learning beam. > > S > > On Tue, Apr 11, 2017 at 1:56 PM Thomas Groh <tg...@google.com.invalid> > wrote: > >> Hey everyone: >> >> I'd like to rename DoFn.Context#sideOutput to #output (in the Java SDK). >> >> Having two methods, both named output, one which takes the "main output >> type" and one that takes a tag to specify the type more clearly >> communicates the actual behavior - sideOutput isn't a "special" way to >> output, it's the same as output(T), just to a specified PCollection. This >> will help pipeline authors understand the actual behavior of outputting to >> a tag, and detangle it from "sideInput", which is a special way to receive >> input. Giving them the same name means that it's not even strange to call >> output and provide the main output type, which is what we want - it's a >> more specific way to output, but does not have different restrictions or >> capabilities. >> >> This is also a pretty small change within the SDK - it touches about 20 >> files, and the changes are pretty automatic. >> >> Thanks, >> >> Thomas >>
