Flirt: The Native Backend
3 months ago
- #development
- #code-review
- #git
- Flirt's development update focuses on the 'Git native' backend, aiming for a broad feature set across various backends.
- Analysis of GitHub, mailing lists, and Gerrit informed feature decisions, with plans to support more platforms like Gitlab and Forgejo.
- Flirt discourages commenting on the full diff of multi-patch Spirits, considering alternatives for handling existing full-diff comments.
- No support for commenting on character ranges within a line, citing limited need and simpler alternatives.
- Commit message and header commenting is prioritized, requiring creative solutions for platforms like GitHub that lack native support.
- Comment threads are essential, with challenges noted in GitHub's limited threading and mailing list's arbitrary branching.
- Marking files as viewed is deemed non-essential initially, with potential for later addition based on user feedback.
- Thread resolution features are planned with both shared and local toggles, addressing limitations in current implementations.
- Custom verdicts for reviews are necessary due to varying backend implementations, from GitHub's fixed options to Gerrit's scores and mailing list conventions.
- The native backend's storage avoids git-notes due to risks of data loss during commit rewriting, opting instead for custom refs in .git/refs/flirt/.
- Future work includes robust comment thread handling, with ideas like 'thread relocation' to maintain context across code changes.
- Alpha release considerations hinge on completing critical features, with upcoming milestones including GitHub and mailing list backend implementations.