Hi! Going through Compose Tutorial. Few things strike me (naming related): - `DrawImage` componen...

# compose

[dimsuz]

Hi! Going through Compose Tutorial. Few things strike me (naming related):

• DrawImage component name feels a bit weird when used in a declarative framework. It sounds like a command to be executed rather than something describing a component. Following this we should've had DrawText instead of Text, no? 🙂
• Column(modifier = ...). Here modifier also feels like a name that is way too generic. I mean isn't each and every argument of Column component a modifier in some sense (it modifies its behavior/view)? I wish it would be more specific into what exactly it modifies

[kioba]

I believe DrawImage is just a draw callback, just like Draw that's why the naming. it is better to be placed in a parent with Size. something like this:

WithDensity {
     Container(
       width = vector.defaultWidth.toDp(),
       height = vector.defaultHeight.toDp()
     ) {
       DrawVector(vector)
     }
   }

[kioba]

I had a couple of problems with modifiers too, especially when refactoring components or moving compose up or down in the tree. hard to figure out and split the modifiers correctly

[dimsuz]

Well, the message of Jetpack Compose was that "everything is a component/composable", so my intuition as a user is that everything I do in DSL is declarative, that's why I immediately felt something's off.

I mean as a user syntactically I cannot distingiush "draw callback" from "regular compose function" they look the same when being used, so maybe something that could be improved...

[dimsuz]

hard to figure out and split the modifiers correctly

I just started playing, so don't know much about them yet. Same goes for draw callbacks. So this is just a first reaction 🙂

[romainguy]

We initially wanted everything to be composable fonctions

[romainguy]

It's clean and simple

[romainguy]

But modifiers are a pragmatic compromise that makes a few things like padding or other layout parameters less cumbersome

[dimsuz]

When I tried Flutter I was a bit cringy everytime I had to wrap widget with Padding only to add one. I guess then that modifiers is an alternative solution to simplify this.

[dimsuz]

But still maybe naming could be improved to something more specific than "modifier". Though it's often hard to nail it, but it's worth it.

[romainguy]

We're open to suggestions

[romainguy]

But it shouldn't be too specific either

[romainguy]

Think of modifiers as non intrinsic properties of composables

[romainguy]

(layout params are a great example)

[dimsuz]

If one day it'll come to me in dreams or on the sidewalk, I'll come back 🙂

[dimsuz]

On the other hand maybe it's something you once learn and then just use and naming is not standing out that much.

[pavi2410]

What about our beloved "style"?

[Andrey Kulikov]

re: DrawImage. Most components emit Layouts, so they not only draw, but also fill the space. DrawX convention is used for the components which ONLY draw. So they use the size of the parent Layout/Container. So specifically about DrawImage there is also a component SimpleImage(name to be updated, maybe to just Image). So the difference is this component also sizes itself with a size of a Bitmap and then internally uses the same DrawImage

[dimsuz]

I see, thanks for explanation!

What still bugs me is using verbs in a declarative setting. They read wrong. I'd suggest to turn them into descriptions somehow.

Like maybe DrawImage -> ImageDrawing, which is an awful name, but I want to show that it describes UI, it answers the "what is this" question, compared to DrawImage which answers "what is being done, what to do" question (reads like a command)

[Andrey Kulikov]

we would need to come up with some rules which is easy to follow and understand, agree. thanks for the feedback