Challenging to tell when to use models vs not. Can we unify the objects into a single init?

[flaviuvadan]

It is currently challenging to know when to import the models module and use objects from that with Hera. Some users might expect that import hera.workflows.* gives them everything they need. However, imagine using ttl_strategy, which is easily available on a container but the GC strategy import must come from models, which is not as obvious. We should consider unifying the imports somehow

[elliotgunton]

I had an idea - but I'd be wary of doing something not obviously backwards-compatible or that blocks us in future - which would be to import all the models into hera/workflows/__init__.py (to allow import hera.workflows.* as you mentioned (although that import statement itself seems like a bad idea...)), or make lightweight wrappers around the models. We might be able to then expand on what the Hera classes offer on top of the models.

Would it make sense to make a docs-only change which addresses #774 first?

[flaviuvadan]

make lightweight wrappers around the models

Could we automatically do this?

[flaviuvadan]

make lightweight wrappers around the models

Could we automatically do this?

@elliotgunton @ljyanesm I imagine the algorithm is something like:

• import * from hera.workflows.models
• A = set of objects from hera.workflows.models
• import * from hera.workflows
• B = set of objects from hera.workflows
• C = B \ A (set difference, keep A over B)
• for each c in C
  • name = camel case to snake case (c.name)
  • make a file called name inside hera.workflows
  • write to the file
    • from hera.workflows.models import c as ModelC
    • class c(modelC): pass
    • __all__ = ['c']
• make global init from hera.workflows only ===> now users can write from hera.workflows import * and they get everything

What do you think?

[elliotgunton]

This can become less challenging if all models appear in the docs

This was fixed in #801 (linked issue) so will mark these comments as resolved to keep the focus on "when to use models" (which has come up when discussing the recent 3.6 changes in #1293)

[hermesribeiro]

That's great. New docs look amazing. I can now show the users where to find more info on their own. Hopefully this will increase hera's internal and external adoption.

[elliotgunton]

Going to convert this to a discussion, as the question of "Can we unify the objects into a single init" is a "won't do" for the time being.

The API reference docs were vastly improved in #1415, so the models are now more discoverable.