Autogenerate create${MessageName} functions

[mikeki]

would it be possible to include the autogeneration of the create function for each message?

e.g. for a

message User {
  string name = 1;
}

We would end up with:

export type User = Message<"User"> & {
  name: string;
}

export const UserSchema: GenMessage<User> =
  manageDesc(file_user, 0);

Could we include the following in the code generation?

export const createUser = (init?: Omit<User, "$typeName" | "$unknown">) =>
  create(UserSchema, init);

[timostamm]

Of course it is technically possible to generate such a function, but it needs to provide a significant benefit. We purposefully generate as little as possible because it keeps the API easy to understand, maintain, and support in other packages like @bufbuild/protoplugin.

My first questions would be:

• What's the advantage of createUser({}) over create(UserSchema, {}) ? Fewer characters is nice, but what about all other functions tied to a schema, for example toJson, mergeFromBinary, clone, and future functions (e.g. merge)?

• Why take Omit<T, "$typeName" | "$unknown"> as the initializer (unlike create), and require the user to provide values for proto2 optionals?

[mikeki]

Thank you very much for the detailed response.

There's definitely so much I hadn't thought about this program, and it's good to hear all your rationale.

Thanks