[jira] [Created] (GEOMETRY-111) Metric interface instead of Point interface [BREAKING CHANGE]

["Baljit Singh (Jira)" <ji...@apache.org>]

Baljit Singh created GEOMETRY-111:
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             Summary: Metric interface instead of Point interface [BREAKING CHANGE]
                 Key: GEOMETRY-111
                 URL: https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/GEOMETRY-111
             Project: Apache Commons Geometry
          Issue Type: New Feature
            Reporter: Baljit Singh


Using a Point interface (especially, the self-bounded/referencing Point<P extends Point<P>>), leads to awkward use of Java generics in other classes. The need is understood in that it makes things "easier" within the subclasses, but it does make other APIs and method signatures a lot more complicated.

Instead, I would propose a Metric<P> interface, with a single method `double distance(T start, T end)`. This makes the API a lot more flexible. For example, using the same point type (Vector3D), one can define two metrics (Euclidean distance for Cartesian space, and angle for Spherical space). 

I understand that it is difficult to prove the usability case, but I'm speaking from experience, having implemented both ways in other libraries.



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