SciML / SciML/ModelingToolkitStandardLibrary.jl
Provide keyword-free constructors for single-arg components
Nobody has claimed this yet.
- Dominant language
- Julia
- Stars
- 171
- Forks
- 49
- Avg merge
- 15h 50m
- Merged PRs (30d)
- 10
Description
It would be nice if we could provide a constructor that does not require a keyword argument for components that are typically associated with a single parameter. Some examples are
- Resistor
- Capacitor
- Inertia
- Spring
- Damper
Even if these component constructors do sometimes take more than one argument (initial state etc.) there is arguably one parameter that is going to be the only one provided most of the time.
This could be achieved with a macro applied to the constructor definitions, e.g.,
@positional C function Capacitor(;name, C, v_start=0.0)
...
end
where C indicates the keyword argument that is to be provided as the single positional argument in the alternative constructor.
Alternatively, the positional constructor could be the default and the macro would add a method that takes the keyword arg instead of the positional:
@add_keyword function Capacitor(C; name, v_start=0.0)
...
end
This would remove the need to remember keywords in many common cases. For example, I always call spring constants k, but the keyword in MTKSL is c.
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
No files or tests are named. Start by reviewing the constructor definitions for Resistor, Capacitor, Inertia, Spring, and Damper, then compare the proposed @positional and @add_keyword approaches. Done requires an agreed API and positional constructors for the common single-parameter cases.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- julia
- Domain
- backend-api-design
- Issue type
- Feature
- Difficulty
- 5/5
- Estimated time
- Over a week
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 25/100