Split API Features Into Modules

[sylv256]

Abstract

It would be nice to split the API features into separate modules so developers can jar-in-jar specific API features. Of course, this will be done when Quilt has an automatic dependency downloader so that the base library containing the Java agent can be downloaded separately.

Alternatives

An alternative is to include the entire API, either using jar-in-jar'ing or requiring it as an external dependency.

Advantages

• The issue with requiring it as an external dependency is that the user has to manually download it.
• Jar-in-jar'ing it increases the .jar size and may cause compatibility issues.
• Jar-in-jar'ing each API feature may alleviate compatibility issues and such by splitting each required feature into modules, further decreasing the probability of breaking changes in external dependencies.
• Mods only use the features that they need.

Drawbacks

• Some mods may require the entire mod as an external dependency, nullifying some of the advantages of jar-in-jar'ing API features.
• Some mods may accidentally jar-in-jar the Java agent, causing multiple Java agents to be active at once. However, this can be prevented.

[itstryme]

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