There are some questions regarding whether or not certain content needs to be registered and vetted by the IP Team as "
Build and Test" dependencies.
The notion of a "Build and Test" dependency was introduced as a special type of "
works with" dependency. The general gist of a "works with" dependency is that the core of the project content provides useful functionality that is augmented in some meaningful way when the "works with" content is present (there's actually two slightly different types of "works with", but this is the relevant one).
For example, the core functionality provided by an EE4J project is some collection of JAR files (I'm simplifying), and the notion of building is something that some developers can choose to do if they want to (but don't have to). I can discuss the legal/licensing implications if anybody feels that there is value in doing so.
So, basically, since testing and building content is not core to the functionality of the project we can treat it as a "works with".
The next question, then, is how deep do we need to go? You need an operating system (and various subatomic particles) to run a build, so we could include that as a "build and test" dependency. Clearly, nobody is well served by going that deep in the stack.
You don't need any form of CQ for standard sorts of build software like an operating system, a Java compiler, Maven, or Gradle (for example) and you don't need a CQ for standard sorts of build plug-ins that are used to compile Java and build JAR files.
I understand that language like "standard sorts of" isn't particularly satisfying but, frankly, the line is fuzzy.
We do need a CQ for, say, a code generator, or a library or other software (e.g. a database) that's required to run tests. We would require a CQ, for example, for Asciidoctor and corresponding Maven plug-ins that are used to invoke it.
If you find yourself in the fuzzy parts of this definition, ask on this PMC list and I'll help you out.
I will augment the documentation (and move it into the handbook).
Wayne
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Wayne Beaton
Director of Open Source Projects | Eclipse Foundation, Inc.
Meet us at EclipseCon Europe 2018: LUDWIGSBURG, OCTOBER 23 - 25