Re: [PATCH 0/3 v2] Improve your performance with our patch

[Reece Dunn <msclrhd@googlemail.com>]

2009/7/29 Rogan Dawes <lists@dawes.za.net>:
> Johannes Schindelin wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>> On Tue, 28 Jul 2009, Daniel Barkalow wrote:
>>
>>>  Documentation/git-shim.txt           |   37 +++++++++
>>
>> May I re-register my complaint about the naming?
>>
>> I mean, yes, I could think of something even worse when it comes to the
>> (ridiculously bad!) tradition of naming things "porcelain", "plumbing" and
>> "potty", especially when it comes to "pushing objects" and
>> then "pulling".
>
> A Shim has nothing to do with plumbing or toilets. From
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shim_%28engineering%29>:
>
> In engineering, a shim is a thin and often tapered or wedged piece of
> material, used to fill small gaps or spaces between objects. Shims are
> typically used in order to support, adjust for better fit, or provide a
> level surface.
>
> I suspect that it is being used in the "adjust for better fit" sense in
> this case.

Yes, a shim is a layer that acts as a bridge from one thing to
another. In this case, it is a bridge between the transport code and
the transport mechanism. Using shim as an external name is confusing
-- a shim to what? The fast-import code and git-svn/hg/bzr/cvs/...
could be a shim (as it is acting as a bridge between other version
control systems).

Here, git-remote-* where * is the protocol name is a better naming
scheme as it tells you about what the logic is doing. The
documentation can be under git-remote.txt.

- Reece