[flytekit] Polish - Container ux

[wild-endeavor]

Container UX

This is a series of tickets to improve the flytekit authoring experience. If any changes are not possible to make in a backwards-compatible way, split it out into a separate ticket.

Argument name

Rename the argument container_image to image in task (and any other relevant decorators, such as dynamic, and eager). container_image is too verbose and the concept of a “container” should be abstracted away from the user.

Image Spec

Rename ImageSpec to just Image. The idea of a Spec should be abstracted away from the users. In their minds, they are just building an image. With union image builder, they don't even need a docker runtime installed.

Are you sure this issue hasn't been raised already?

• Yes

Have you read the Code of Conduct?

• Yes

[thomasjpfan]

I agree with the container_image change.

I'm unsure about renaming ImageSpec. It is not an "Image", but a specification for how to build an image.

[granthamtaylor]

I'm unsure about renaming ImageSpec. It is not an "Image", but a specification for how to build an image.

I feel like the same could be said of everything else in Flytekit. For example, a @task is not a task, but a specification of a task, no?

From the perspective of a user, an ImageSpec will eventually evaluate to a reference to an Image.

[JiangJiaWei1103]

#take

[JiangJiaWei1103]

Hi @wild-endeavor,

I agree with these changes. Before proceeding with the renaming, I would like to confirm my understanding:

1. Rename ImageSpec to Image
2. Create an alias for ImageSpec as Image to maintain backward compatibility
3. Update the relevant documentation

Regarding container_image, would it make sense to support both container_image and image (prioritize the new argument for sure) for now, while warning users about the deprecation of container_image in the future?

cc @thomasjpfan @granthamtaylor

Thanks a lot!

[thomasjpfan]

Yes, we'll need to keep an alias for ImageSpec for Image for backward compatibility.

Also we'll need to support container_image and image with the behavior:

1. If only container_image is set, show a deprecation warning informing uses of the new parameter.
2. If both image and container_image is set, raise an error. (They can not both be set)
3. If only image is set, use that.

[JiangJiaWei1103]

Perfect! Thanks for confirming!

After reviewing the codebase, I would like to confirm if the following changes are expected:

1. Rename ImageSpecBuilder to ImageBuilder and EnvdImageSpecBuilder to EnvdImageBuilder
2. Rename the folder image_spec/ to image/ and the file image_spec.py to image.py
   • Note: This will affect all import statements
3. Rename all variables and function names containing the image_spec substring to image, e.g.,
   • image_spec_dict to image_dict
   • update_image_spec_copy_handling to update_image_copy_handling
4. Ditto, for those containing container_image substring, e.g.,
   • get_registerable_container_image to get_registerable_image

Finally, should we apply all these changes to the tests/ dir as well? Thanks!