[Development] QTCS2019 Notes from QtQml session

[Robin Burchell]

On Mon, Nov 25, 2019, at 3:53 PM, Ulf Hermann wrote:
> Yes, but the problems with this construct are the same as with generic 
> context properties: Your QML component requires some context that it 
> doesn't declare. Therefore your code is not reusable and brittle wrt 
> addition of properties in other places.

Which is why I also provided a possible solution - by providing declaration of that context.

I'm not sure whether you just stopped reading once I started talking about the problem, but I'd be interested to hear about whether or not something like that approach was considered.

> Mind that all those dynamic lookups will still live on in QML 2, and we 
> will maintain QML 2 throughout Qt6. They just won't be valid in QML 3.

It's good to hear that QML 2 won't disappear overnight, but let's not pretend that this would be a sustainable, good situation to be in. One day, QML 2 will disappear. At least, given the lower version number, you would hope it will disappear. But every piece of pain that makes porting harder will help to ensure that it stays around longer.

And even if there wasn't going to be pain in porting - there is going to be a lot of residual friction in transitioning. All of the documentation, all of the examples, all of the tribal knowledge will suddenly become irrelevant.

And for what? Why?


Yes, there are problems with some features. That doesn't necessarily mean they are unsolvable problems (perhaps they are; without having a proper discussion about it - how do we know?)

By the sounds of it, QML2 to QML3 will not be an easy transition. I was already a little worried when I saw changes removing versioning, and a WIP change deprecating context properties back in April or so, but reading your mail makes me very concerned for the future. 

For reference, QML1 to QML2 was a _relatively_ easy port for example, despite a different JavaScript engine, a new item set, and a completely rewritten graphical presentation. My personal opinion is that this was very good, because it gave you a pretty big no-brainer: spend a small moderate amount of effort to port and validate/test, and in return, you gain much better performance.

The situation for QML3 seems to be much less clear cut