[ecf-dev] Re: Notes on ECF meeting 8/16/05

[Boris Bokowski <bokowski@xxxxxxxxx>]

> Boris questioned the use of joinGroup/leaveGroup rather than
> connect/disconnect.
>
> **After discussing with Boris at call I (Scott) and
> subsequently thinking about the various arguments for/against
> joinGroup/leaveGroup vs. connect/disconnect am inclined to
> *change* joinGroup/leaveGroup to connect/disconnect.  What do
> other people think about this?  If we make this API change, I
> would like to do it soon, so that we don't have to do it
> again, so please let you opinions be known about this as soon as
> possible.***

For the record, here are my arguments for changing
joinGroup/leaveGroup to connect/disconnect:

1. Under the hood, joinGroup in most cases means to connect to a
server that hosts some kind of networked service.
2. The method joinGroup could be misunderstood as being the API to
start a group chat session. Since one of our use-cases is to be able
to connect to an instant-messaging service, we should try to minimize
the chances of confusion.
3. For an example where the IContainer implements some kind of
FTP-based file transfer, joinGroup just seems to be the wrong name.

Boris.