Helpful Tip: rename package on github to not having ".jl" and back (to make a permanent alias)

General Usage
1

Lets say:

  • you have a package, Foo.jl, on github

Now:

However:

  • if you rename the package to Foo and then back to Foo.jl
  • it retains the alias allowing less people to see the 404
2

Why would you be interested in dropping the *.jl from the URL? I like that the extension makes Julia packages unique on the web. It is very unlikely that a name ending with *.jl is not related to Julia.

3

@juliohm I think his point was to drop the .jl and then add it back, so that both URL’s point the same package with and without the .jl extension. This way you don’t have to type .jl into the URL but it still redirects you there. So he’s not advocating not having the extension, but that github will redirect the link

when you rename a repo on github, the previous URL still redirects you to the new one

4

I understood his writeup @chakravala, I am just wondering why bother removing the *.jl from the URL?

5

Because users mess up urls all the time