Details
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Improvement
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Status: Closed
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Minor
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Resolution: Won't Fix
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Description
The current DEFAULT_VERSIONS (in HColumnDescriptor) is 3, but there is no particular reason for this. Many uses require only 1, and having a default that is different makes people confused (e.g., "Do I need multiple versions to support deletes properly?").
Reasonable values for the default are 1 and max int. 1 is the better choice.
Discussion on the mailing list suggests that the current value of 3 may have been derived from an example in the Bigtable paper. The example does not suggest that there is anything special about 3, it's just an illustration.