References in D

[Russel Winder]

On Sat, 2012-09-15 at 16:24 +0200, Alex Rønne Petersen wrote:
[…]
> You can't really do this "carefully". One way or another, you're going 
> to break *tons* of code by removing null references.

Code is not broken by a breaking change in a compiler, using the wrong
compiler causes the differences to be exhibited. If people do not wish
to go with the breaking change, they do not need to move to the "broken"
compiler.

There are still people using Java 1.4 because they thing all the changes
in Java 5 were language breakages. The same will happen with Java 8.

Many people consider Python 3 to be a breaking change too far, and will
be sticking with 2.7 — or some will still continue to stay with 2.5
since the changes introduced by 2.6 are, to them, a breakage too far.

Pre C++11 and post C++11 is another example.

Many people will though manage carefully the evolution of their code
with that of their chosen compilation tool chain. Personally I amend my
codes to fit the latest version: Java 8, Python 3.3, gcc 4.8, d 2.120,
etc.

Nothing wrong with planned breaking changes in compilation system as
long as people know when they are coming and what the breakages are.

-- 
Russel.
=============================================================================
Dr Russel Winder      t: +44 20 7585 2200   voip: sip:russel.winder at ekiga.net
41 Buckmaster Road    m: +44 7770 465 077   xmpp: russel at winder.org.uk
London SW11 1EN, UK   w: www.russel.org.uk  skype: russel_winder
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