[Qgis-developer] QEP: QGIS Mapserver Python Plugins

[Alessandro Pasotti]

2014-08-29 10:24 GMT+02:00 Pirmin Kalberer <pi_ml at sourcepole.com>:
> Hi Alessandro,
>
> Am Donnerstag, 28. August 2014, 14.49:47 schrieb Alessandro Pasotti:
>>
>> as anticipated to some of you during the last HF, I've started to add
>> Python plugins support for the server side.
>>
>> The rationale behind server plugins is doublefold: first they could
>> provide additional services without the need to touch the C++
>> codebase, second they allow for GUI-based configuration since the
>> server plugins are not separated from the desktop plugins (of course
>> the environment and permissions should be carefully configured to
>> allow information sharing from the desktop user to the webserver user
>> ).
>
> This looks like the first real case for an RFC! I'm quite sceptical adding
> Python to QGIS server. In my opinion this should be discussed thoroughly first.

Hello Pirmin,

thanks for the feedback!!!  At least this is the start of a discussion
:) I knew from previous conversations with some of you that adding
python plugins to the server was not at the top of the priority list
and
I added QEP (RFC) in the original subject because I know this topic
must be discussed: I'm not going to do a PR anytime soon, and my
implementation is more like an hack to see how far can I go with this
idea, but, so far, it seems quite promising.

Everybody knows how has been important to have Python plugins on the
desktop side, coding in Python is 5 to 10 times faster than building
C++ code and moreover the lower barrier to start being productive will
bring a lot of new functionalities from a larger pool of developers.

Last but not least, python plugins do not need to pass the
PR/pull/build/relase cycle that affect the C++ core, which adds a
considerable delay to bug fixes and new features.

That said, I would really like to hear more from you all about the
reasons to be against this idea.

-- 
Alessandro Pasotti
w3:   www.itopen.it