typedef alive and well?

[Martin Nowak]

On Thu, 03 Nov 2011 19:44:36 +0100, Brad Roberts <braddr at puremagic.com>  
wrote:

> On Thu, 3 Nov 2011, Martin Nowak wrote:
>
>> I think we need to change the release policy to make that happen.
>> Honestly the half-life period for D code using the mainline dmd
>> is about a few weeks and is released on ~monthly base.
>> This is a heavy restriction to attract professional development.
>>
>> Currently this is creates the unlucky situation of deferring useful  
>> changes
>> to some projected D3, while still breaking the D language all too often.
>>
>> I think there's a lot to learn from  
>> http://python.org/download/releases/.
>> For example somebody changing from Python2.5 to 2.7 is anticipating
>> some breaking changes, not so much for a change from dmd2.053 to  
>> dmd2.056.
>>
>> martin
>
> While I don't disagree with the larger point, I do feel compelled to
> clarify that it's not dmd or the language that's making most of the
> backwards incompatible changes, it's phobos.
>
> Walter has been considerably more conservative in what breaking changes
> are acceptable.

True, but that has it's own drawbacks.
Also adding bugs for new features can be considered as a breaking change.
There's a lot to gain from splitting maintenance and feature development.

martin