+1 Definitively a confusing API when you first jump on building a PTransform. For such API change, the sooner the better, I think.
On Wed, Dec 7, 2016 at 10:37 PM, Kenneth Knowles <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi all, > > I want to bring up another major backwards-incompatible change before it is > too late, to resolve [BEAM-438]. > > Summary: Leave PInput.apply the same but rename PTransform.apply to > PTransform.expand. I have opened [PR #1538] just for reference (it took 30 > seconds using IDE automated refactor) > > This change affects *PTransform authors* but does *not* affect pipeline > authors. > > This issue was filed a long time ago. It has been a problem many times with > actual users since before Beam started incubating. This is what goes wrong > (often): > > PCollection<Foo> input = ... > PTransform<PCollection<Foo>, ...> transform = ... > > transform.apply(input) > > This type checks and even looks perfectly normal. Do you see the error? > > ... what we need the user to write is: > > input.apply(transform) > > What a confusing difference! After all, the first one type-checks and the > first one is how you apply a Function or Predicate or SerializableFunction, > etc. But it is broken. With transform.apply(input) the transform is not > registered with the pipeline at all. > > We obviously can't (and don't want to) change the most core way that > pipeline authors use Beam, so PInput.apply (aka PCollection.apply) must > remain the same. But we do need a way to make it impossible to mix these > up. > > The simplest way I can think of is to choose a new name for the other > method involved. Users probably won't write transform.expand(input) since > they will never have seen it in any examples, etc. This will just make > PTransform authors need to do a global rename, and the type system will > direct them to all cases so there is no silent failure possible. > > What do you think? > > Kenn > > [BEAM-438] https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/BEAM-438 > [PR #1538] https://github.com/apache/incubator-beam/pull/1538 > > p.s. there is a really amusing and confusing call chain: PCollection.apply > -> Pipeline.applyTransform -> Pipeline.applyInternal -> > PipelineRunner.apply -> PTransform.apply > > After this change and work to get the runner out of the loop, it becomes > PCollection.apply -> Pipeline.applyTransform -> PTransform.expand > -- Sergio Fernández Partner Technology Manager Redlink GmbH m: +43 6602747925 e: [email protected] w: http://redlink.co
