27 Aug
2008
27 Aug
'08
8:39 a.m.
Marshall Clow wrote:
Changing interfaces, to me, implies that the developer: * Discovered a better way to solve the problem that he faced. * Decided that the benefits of the change outweighed the costs.
The "don't change interfaces, ever, no matter what" is why we still have "strcpy" and "mktmp", to name just two examples. Bad interfaces are bugs; they should be fixed.
Software does not spring full-blown from someone's forehead; it is a process of discovery and refinement. Interfaces follow that same path.
True enough, but it's still good manners to try and preserve source-compatibility even if binary-compatibility can't be preserved. Cheers, John.