What information do plugin developers need for my application?
I am developing an application that can be extended with "plugins". The plugins will be pretty straightforward, allowing developers to add new "actions" to my application.
What documentation / information do I need to provide so developers can do what they need?
I thought of a short example and general overview of how apps / plugins work?
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You need to develop a sense of community. Such things as:
- sample code for more than one real plugin;
- a beginner's guide for plugins;
- details on how to deploy the plugin and how they will be detected by your application;
- wiki so that plugin writers can collaborate, and
- an easy way for plugin authors to contribute their plugin
may I help.
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You also need to decide how verbose your API will be. IF you offer a rich API, make sure it documents it well and explicitly highlights directives (explicit "do" or "not do" instructions).
Most users don’t bother to read the documentation and figure out what the name is, or decapitate your documents. Therefore, it is best if you can avoid being "surprised", and if not, at least offer them the opportunity to find problems.
Finally, err on the prudent side of validating proper usage and throwing exceptions rather than relying on users to follow your instructions.
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Also, think ahead of time if you really expect someone to be able to use your plugins because the main product is becoming a hit.
It's very common to get wrong on the optimistic side and think that when you write a plugin framework that someone will actually use.
However, no one can write plugins before the core offering is successful and popular. You might be better off publishing and distributing your own plugins before worrying about extensions by others.
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