Shibboleth Developers

["Scott Cantor" <>]

> However, most of the methods in the data connectors are declared
> private - forcing us to replicate the entire class.  Could shib,
> in the future (1.4 or 2.x), declare methods protected instead
> of private?

We could, but at that point they're part of the API. I guess it depends on
having a policy about what can change.

I don't think we originally envisioned most people subclassing connectors,
which would have been the motivation for making anything protected.

I suppose it's fair to say that protected would be less of a commitment than
public, but the distinction isn't quite that simple. Lots of people hate
protected altogether at least in C++. I do make use of it if I think people
are going to subclass something (or if I force them to).

-- Scott