Abstract

After the removal of the legacy MATLAB toolbox in Cantera/cantera#1670, all remaining interfaces that use clib are either experimental themselves (matlab_experimental) or rudimentary/incomplete (Fortran, .NET). In order to fix inconsistencies (example: Cantera/cantera#1760), an "official" change to experimental status would allow for a faster development cycle and additional changes.

Examples:

• Replace size_t by int (currently there is no consistency in the API)
• Easier integration of new API's, e.g. MATLAB Complete the experimental Matlab toolbox.  #177, .NET Interface for .NET languages #156 or Julia Julia support for Cantera #81
• Prepare for potential major changes as envisioned by Use code generation to provide interfaces for C, Fortran, Matlab, Julia, etc. #39

Motivation

Describe the need for the proposed change:

• What problem is it trying to solve? ... resolve long-standing inconsistencies
• Who is affected by the change? ... mostly developers
• Why is this a good solution? ... make internal discussions official

Possible Solutions

Add the following passage on top of ct.h, etc.

    /*!
     *  @warning  This module is an experimental part of the %Cantera API and
     *      may be changed or removed without notice.
     */

and move ahead with changes that do not use the usual deprecation cycle.

References

Links to related Pull Requests, GitHub Issues, Users' Group topics, or other relevant material.

• Use code generation to provide interfaces for C, Fortran, Matlab, Julia, etc. #39
• Julia support for Cantera #81
• Interface for .NET languages #156
• Complete the experimental Matlab toolbox.  #177
• Fix inconsistent string handling in clib cantera#1760
• Reproducible names for zeroD objects cantera#1765