[Zeek-Dev] support for event handlers using a subset of parameters

[Seth Hall]

On 6 Feb 2019, at 10:48, Jon Siwek wrote:

> We can't magically change that user's code.  We have to, somehow, let
> that work as it is, without user intervention.

Yeah, I think that's right.  I was trying to come up with some proposed 
model for indicating that you're specifying named parameters but that 
would still force existing code to be updated so that it could keep 
using the existing model.

One thing I've been thinking about a little bit is how much we're 
concerning ourselves with maintaining perfect backward compatibility and 
if there is some benefit to breaking a bit of backward compatibility for 
something truly nicer?  Like, should we have some specialized syntax for 
specifying named parameter use?  Should we have something like anonymous 
records where you specify a variant of record syntax for named 
parameters?  (ruby comes to mind for this, but I've seen people do 
similar things in c too)

I'm just wondering if we should do a one-time source compatibility break 
to could get some tangible benefit in usability or understanding.  I 
think Robin's concern is about backing us into a corner with a syntax 
that makes code confusing.  Is that correct Robin?

   .Seth

--
Seth Hall * Corelight, Inc * www.corelight.com