Prefer to use the Interceptor API over Pedestal's interceptor "Helpers"

[ohpauleez]

Pedestal's Interceptor Helpers are discouraged, and at some point, will be removed from Pedestal all together. Instead, you should use the interceptor API directly (via the interceptor function). You should avoid using macros to generate Interceptors, as this can often break AOT compilation.

[oliyh]

Hi @ohpauleez
I understand the drive to eliminate macros, and can work on this, but the fact remains that the helpers are extremely... helpful; I find they aid clarity quite a bit. For the small number of common patterns that exist, why are helpers frowned upon (assuming they were reimplemented as normal functions)?

[ohpauleez]

The function-form of the helpers aren't frowned upon (although I tend to rarely use them), only the def* macro versions.

In most cases, {:name ::blah :enter (fn [ctx] ...)} reads just as clear, without needing to understand what before/after/around/handler all do. It eliminates surface area when attempting to comprehend the entire system. The macro versions can be dangerous because they can end up breaking AOT compilation (based on how the 3-levels of macro nesting resolve all the expansion).

Everything in Pedestal is an interceptor that takes and returns a context, and I think the helpers muddy that a bit. They were needed before there was a unified, extensible API, but that API now exists.

[oliyh]

Thanks, I will aim to remove the macros but I think with the extra steps involved in attaching the Swagger metadata as well there is still a use case for helper functions.

[ohpauleez]

Cool, let me know if you need help with anything!