[Vm-dev] building plugins outside the tree

[tim Rowledge]

The way it should go for developing plugins is roughly like this (and it's definitely possible details will get missed in this missive)

Download full sources tree.
Download and compose VMMaker system.
Do a full clean vm build, just to make sure all the config stuff is done locally.

Work on your plugin code in the VMMaker image and/or C code tools.
Generate new plugin code from VMMaker when required. This does not involve rebuilding the entire vm tree from VMMaker unless perhaps you are making a plugin that requires total changes to the entire vm. Which would kind of spoil the point of a plugin.

`make` the plugin
install the plugin in the appropriate vm related directory, which is a far more complex story than it should be.
run your system intended to test the new plugin. Remember that the intent is that you can unload a plugin within a running image and then make use of something in the plugin to reload it. 

Rinse and repeat until it works. 
Test on other platforms as appropriate.
Redesign to handle the other platform stuff you didn't know about. 
Rinse and repeat until you have to release because IPO is upon you and The Product Must Roll!

No need at all for a special set of sources. The entire source tree is tiny by comparison to many projects and you don't need to look at much of it to develop a plugin.

Are there odd corners and gotchas? You bet. Modern platforms have become hives of blathering insanity requiring special this, proprietary that and secret handshakes galore. Does there need to be better documentation? Duh - is there any software project that has even a half-hearted set of doc these days?


tim
--
tim Rowledge; tim at rowledge.org; http://www.rowledge.org/tim
Useful Latin Phrases:- Oblitus sum perpolire clepsydras! = I forgot to polish the clocks!