API page: https://api.drupal.org/api/drupal/core%21lib%21Drupal%21Component%21Plug...
I am confounded by the usage of 'proxy' here as an action word, i.e. a verb. I have never seen proxy used as a verb outside the Drupal community. Has it been used as such among PHP developers? Or among other developers in general?
"While a plugin manager may directly implement these interface methods with custom logic, it is expected to be more common for plugin managers to proxy the method invocations to the respective components, and directly implement only the additional functionality needed by the specific pluggable system. To follow this pattern, plugin managers can extend from the PluginManagerBase class, which contains the proxying logic."
The term 'proxy' in my experience is mostly used as a noun in the context of a publicly traded company. A shareholder that is unable to attend a shareholder meeting will send a proxy to vote on their behalf. A synonym for a proxy could be representative. A company (e.g. TJS ,inc) that holds shares in another company would send a representative to the shareholders' meeting, or send a proxy to represent the company, TJS, inc.
Another possible synonym for 'proxy' is 'delegate'. The noun, 'delegate' is often used in a diplomatic context. But the verb 'to delegate' is often used in business and managerial terms. The president of TJS, inc. could have several vice-presidents to whom he might delegate powers and responsibilities.
We know that the representative represents or that the proxy represents or that the delegate represents. But if we say that the representative delegates, or the proxy delegates or that the delegate delegates, this is a completely different thing. While the representative represents, it would then make mores sense to say that the president delegates, or the manager delegates.
So when it is "more common for the plugin managers to proxy method invocations to the respective components", does the plugin manager, then, delegate to the component? Or does the plugin manager represent the component?
And what does 'method invocations' mean in this context? It is said that one class invokes the method of another class, or one class calls the method of another class. What does it mean for a plugin manager to proxy a method invocation to the respective component? This comes across as jargon and is, therefore, unclear.
Another acceptable usage of 'proxy' is as an adjective when qualifying 'server' in a technological context. Alternatively, you can say that 'proxy' acts as a morpheme in the compound noun 'proxy server'.
Either way, it's more intuitive: a proxy server is between the client and the initial or base server and represents the base server as the base server effectively delegates responsibility to the proxy server.
But does
the base server proxy the proxy server
or does
the proxy server proxy the base server?
Again, 'to proxy' can not be found in any English language dictionary (Webster's, Oxford, etc) nor can it be found in any technical jargon or professional terminology.