[erlang-questions] gen module documentation availability

[Kenneth Lundin]

Hi

The gen module is not documented because it is not an official API.
The gen module is an implementation which happens to be shared by
gen_server, gen_event and gen_fsm.
The interface towards the gen module might be changed at anytime while
at the same time
the API's towards gen_server, gen_event and gen_fsm will remain
untouched or backwards compatible.
The gen module might even be removed or split into several modules.

The principle we have is that what's documented is the official API's
that will be kept stable and compatible.

I still think there is a minor risk for you in reusing the gen module
we have no immediate plans to
change it. And you can always copy the entire contents of the gen
module into your implementation if you want to be on the safe side.

/Kenneth Erlang/OTP Ericsson

On Tue, Dec 23, 2008 at 12:35 PM, Ciprian Dorin, Craciun
<ciprian.craciun@REDACTED> wrote:
>    Hello all!
>
>    I've seen that gen_server, gen_fsm and gen_event, are all based on
> the module gen... Now I've also seen that this module is not specified
> in the official documentation...
>
>    My questions are:
>    * can I use this module without fear that it could (one day) be
> modified in an incompatible way? (I want to build a custom
> servlet-like process framework, and I would have used it directly
> without passing through gen_server);
>    * is it documented anywhere more than the source code? (I mean are
> there some examples?);
>
>    Thanks,
>    Ciprian Craciun.
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