@r_gigante
Yes indeed, the question is more theoretical than technical. That is the reason I originally posted it in the section "Forum information & resources", as it was more intended to try and agree on a naming convention to be used in the forums.
I don't mind seeing the topic moved to the development section instead.
From a user/customer point of view the whole set of new functionalities is considered a "plugin".
Internally, however, it can consist of many "plugins" (scenehook, nodedata, message, ...).
Which is confusing to explain in written. When does "plugin" mean the latter, when does it mean the former?
For instance, the SDK documentation has a page dedicated to Plugin Types. Here "plugin" is meant as the latter, the "component".
But the introduction of the SDK has a whole page dedicated to Plugin Directory Structure. Here "plugin" is meant as the former, the "new functionality for Cinema 4D".
When I started developing ... "new functionality for Cinema 4D", a few years ago, it took me a while to understand that "plugin" was used with two meanings. At first I thought you could only write a "plugin" (new functionality) using one specific "plugin" (component) type.
It took me quite a while before understanding that you could have more than one "plugin" (components) into a single "plugin" (new functionality).
Just a few days ago, I needed to describe a problem, but it took me quite a while to figure out how to describe without confusing anyone, as I had this plugin, which consisted of plugins, which eventually resulted in missing plugins.
So far, I haven't yet made up my mind how I should further refer to "plugin" and "plugin" in order to distinguish them ...