Designing plugin systems
Having a defined plugin system for a library can be a huge advantage. Libraries that do not have a plugin system usually handle extensions to the library in an ad hoc manner that differs per extension. With a plugin system, extensions to the library operate in a uniform manner for each extension. This has the following advantages for everyone involved:
- The library creator can create the plugin system that works best for their library, allowing extensibility in the parts that should be extensible, and not allowing extensibility in parts that do not need to be extensible.
- The plugin creator can review the plugin system to determine how the library should be extended, such as which extension points exist. They probably also have many other examples of extensions to the library that they can review, which makes the process of building their plugin much easier.
- The library user knows how to use the plugin system for all of the library's extensions...
