Request for Comments
RFC 1: DBConnection or DBContext ?
DBConnection is the module in EnsEMBL code to store the database information, such as host, dbname, etc; while DBContext is a BioPerl-DB module having the same function as DBConnection in EnsEMBL. However, the usage of these similar modules are different in these 2 systems.
DBAdaptor in EnsEMBL inherits DBConnection, there is a IS_A relationship, while Bio::DB::BioDB owns DBContext and construct a HAS_A relationship. "As a very general remark, replacing containment (association) with inheritance is rarely a good idea; most of the time people refactor their code in the opposite direction. - Hilmar"
So I choose the DBContext style as the method grant Adaptor the database access information.
Date: Thu Jan 8, 2004