[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #20103: Rewrite get_themes() and other enemies of sanity

[WordPress Trac]

#20103: Rewrite get_themes() and other enemies of sanity
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 Reporter:  nacin         |      Owner:
     Type:  defect (bug)  |     Status:  new
 Priority:  normal        |  Milestone:  Awaiting Review
Component:  Themes        |    Version:  1.5
 Severity:  normal        |   Keywords:
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 get_themes() is a memory hog (#11214). The data it returns, and how it
 calculates it, is terribly designed (#15858, #12275, others) and
 inflexible (#19816, others). It is not possible to translate this data.
 Its aspects are poorly named (#11215). get_themes() keys things by theme
 name, rather than slug, which the theme editor and other areas rely on.
 Indeed, get_current_theme() and the corresponding option in the DB stores
 the name.

 The functions that scan (get_themes(), search_theme_directories()) are
 stuck in a PHP4 world. They use globals and arrays, and one took your
 lunch money. They implement unnecessary loops and directory scans, making
 for very lame performance.

 With get_themes(), everything is loaded at once, as there is no
 opportunity for lazy-loading, even though lists of files are only needed
 for the theme editor and often all we want is the current theme's
 information.

 Almost none of this is even remotely cacheable, certainly not sanely.

 Attempts to work with this API usually lead to disaster. The theme editor
 is a textbook example. It breaks on basically anything other than A-Z
 (again relying on names rather than slugs), and does some really evil
 things. I cleaned up what I could two years ago during my GSoC project,
 but because get_themes() makes most of MU look good, little of it could
 flow back into core.

 Over the next few days, I will be attaching some patches that rewrite
 large swaths of this aging area of core.

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Ticket URL: <http://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/20103>
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