"Nat Goodspeed"
Can I make a case that the small incremental costs in coding time and reliability would add up to a bigger hit than the hypothetical risk of lawsuit?
Absolutely, and they're not small and incremental, especially in the long run. Having weak abstractions is fatal to the long-term health of any codebase. It kills maintainability and development velocity, and often causes either a very expensive rewrite, or stagnation that costs the code its ability to remain competitive.
It seems doubtful, since all the factors involved in such an argument are sheer guesswork -- and every party will believe their own guesses rather than their opponents'.
If I were working in a development organization that didn't understand the fundamental importance of strong abstractions, I'd be trying hard to remedy that. And failing that, I'd be looking for a different venue in which to practice my craft. No developer needs that kind of pain. -- Dave Abrahams Boost Consulting www.boost-consulting.com