Phobos and older DMD versions

[monarch_dodra]

On Tuesday, 6 August 2013 at 14:51:35 UTC, qznc wrote:
> My recent pull request [0] triggered some issue, which should 
> get a bigger discussion:
>
> Should Phobos version N also compile with DMD N-1?
>
> In my opinion it should, because it makes Phobos development 
> simpler. You don't need a self compiled dmd to fix bugs.
>
> However, reality sometimes requires exceptions. I understand 
> that sometimes Phobos uses a feature of dmd HEAD. That is why I 
> said "should", but not "must". ;)
>
>
> [0] 
> https://github.com/D-Programming-Language/phobos/pull/1454/files#r5601514

One of the "big" problems is that a *lot* of bugs work this way:
1) Bug is discovered in Phobos
2) Fixing bug reveals a dmd bug
3) dmd is fixed
4) phobos is fixed

If phobos N had to work with DMD N-1, then development in phobos 
would simply grind to a halt.

It's not just about new features in DMD that phobos wants to use. 
dmd bugs are fixed for phobos, I'd say, on a twice by week basis 
(roughly).