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When Do You Kiss Backwards Compatibility Goodbye?

Posted by Cliff on from the ditching-all-of-that-old-baggage dept.

Arandir asks: "Backwards compatibility is great for users. But it sucks for developers. After a while your normally sensible and readable code becomes a nightmare spaghetti tangle of conditions, macros and multiple reinventions of the wheel. Eventually you have to kiss off backwards compatibility as more trouble than it's worth. The question is, when? Should my code conform to POSIX.1 or Single UNIX 2? Should I expect the user to have a ISO Standard C++ compiler? What about those users with SunOS-4.1.4, Slackware-3.2, and FreeBSD-2.2?" This question is really kind of difficult to answer in the general sense. The best advice one can give, of course, is "when you can get away with it". Not much help, that, but the lost of backwards compatibility, like most complex decisions, depends on a lot of factors. The key factor in most developers eyes, of course, is the bottom line. Have many of you been faced with this decision? What logic did you use to come to your decision and what suggestions do you have for others who might find themself in this predicament?

4 of 241 comments (clear)

  1. Fukk LINEX! Do it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    szd hfaslkjf sahdglj shfiau2h fqwelh qer ghiuljfdl hgasl jsudagasdfhl gsalhkafsd

    It is campabible with DOS?

  2. The best time... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    to stop backwards compatibility is when Billy Gates says it's time to shaft everyone who won't buy XP. And thats a fact.

  3. Fuck them up their stupid asses by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    Slashdot is the worst webpage I ever read. Cmdrtaco and Katz are stupid characters. A couple of stoners who spout dumb-ass catch-phrases like a third rate 'Cheech and Chong' or 'Bill and Ted'. Fuck cmdrtaco and hemos. Fuck them up their stupid asses.
    Kidding :)

  4. "Sharp as a Tack" by PHanT0 · · Score: 0, Flamebait


    You kiss it goodbye when you hear about C#... another beautiful mess brought to you by MS...