stan-dev/stan

Remove unused variational::base_family class

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#1695 opened on Nov 19, 2015

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code cleanupgood first issue

Description

The base class variational::base_family has no virtual methods and the one function it does define uses no member variables or functions, so can be made standalone outside of the class. Therefore, base_family should be removed.

  • remove src/stan/variational/base_family.hpp
  • move function write_error_msg_() into its own file and rename without suffix _
  • patch families/normal_meanfield.hpp and families/normal_fullrank.hpp:
    • remove references to base_family
    • change calls to write_error_msg_ to include and call new function

If the intent was to somehow pull down some of the functionality from the subclasses, then this issue should be repurposed to do that.

Contributor guide

Tech stack
cpp
Domain
backend
Issue type
refactor
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
2
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-3 hours
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
stale
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
C++Stan code organization
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
70
Research direction
The issue specifies three tasks: remove src/stan/variational/base family.hpp, create a new file for write error msg () without the underscore suffix, and update families/normal meanfield.hpp and families/normal fullrank.hpp to remove base family references and call the new function. The main question from the issue is whether the base family class was intended to pull down functionality from subclasses, which should be clarified with maintainers. The files are in the stan/variational directory.