Re: Proposal for 'package-isolate' command

[Eshel Yaron]

Hi Philip,

Philip Kaludercic <philipk@posteo.net> writes:

> How about this patch, that will use a temporary directory when
> `package-isolate' is invoked with a prefix argument (not sure what the
> default should be, I guess reusing `user-emacs-directory' is less
> surprising):

I'm again looking forward to trying this out, I think it could be
helpful for testing the Compat integration I'm working on for a package
of mine.  I also again have a couple of minor suggestions around
documentation:

>  (defun package--dependencies (pkg)
> -  "Return a list of all dependencies PKG has.
> -This is done recursively."
> -  ;; Can we have circular dependencies?  Assume "nope".
> -  (when-let* ((desc (cadr (assq pkg package-archive-contents)))
> -              (deps (mapcar #'car (package-desc-reqs desc))))
> -    (delete-dups (apply #'nconc deps (mapcar #'package--dependencies 
> deps)))))
> +  "Return a list of all recursive dependencies of PKG.

I'd say "transitive" rather than "recursive" dependencies, because I
think a recursive dependency is more commonly used to refer to a case in
which a package (or library, etc.) depends on itself.

> +If PKG is a package descriptor, the return value will consist of
> +a list of package descriptors.  If PKG is a symbol, designating a
> +package, the return value will be a list of symbols designating
> +packages."

Personally, I find the future tense less clear than the present tense
when describing deterministic software behavior.  So usually I prefer it
when the docs say what the program "does", not what it "will do".  In
this case that be "if PKG is a package descriptor, the return value is a
list of package descriptors..."


Best,

Eshel