export_to (Was: Re: the OO metaphor)

[Thomas Lindgren]

> There should now be no reason to export a function name that is not
> expected to be called from other modules. (Counterexamples, anyone?)

The only thing I can think of offhand is the rpc library. Perhaps
spawn(Node,Fun) should be used rather than the ordinary rpc library.
Or the rpc library should be retooled to use fun:s instead of
mod/fun/args.

Note that separating -export and -spawn/-apply also guarantees that
-export:ed functions are not spawned or applied unless explicitly so
declared. A tool like xref can then guarantee that nobody is breaking
interfaces by directly calling some module that is intended to be
'local' to an application. Program analyzers and similar tools can be
less conservative as well.

				  Thomas
--
Thomas Lindgren					thomas+junk@REDACTED
Alteon WebSystems

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