[Smtk-developers] Pie in the sky

[David Thompson]

Hi TJ,

> Ideally: smtkCommon, smtkResource, smtkAttribute, smtkModel, etc. Then we would know which parts of the code depend on other parts, and keep those dependencies in the right direction.

If the attribute system moves to using operations to update values (which I believe it should), then smtkAttribute and smtkOperation cannot be separate libraries.

> I don’t know why vtk has a two-level system, but without a compelling reason to follow it I’d be just as happy to do our own thing.

To explicitly avoid more than 2 levels and to force everything to be at the leaves. A completely flat system was too cumbersome (VTK got too big to have vtkCommon, vtkRendering, etc., but that's the way it used to be). IIRC, there was talk of an arbitrary hierarchy but people (including me) objected as that makes it hard to remember where things live (which is an issue that I think makes SMTK less approachable and easy to use even now).

Certainly, simplicity was a reason for VTK's pattern[1] and although there are many annoyances with the VTK module system, I appreciate the simple hierarchy.

	David

[1]: https://blog.kitware.com/whats-new-in-vtk-6/   (see "Simple Module Naming Scheme")