4 ms·

For years I'd comment code using links to reference material, like the API documentation for an API call being made. It was very handy. Links to Microsoft onlin

For years I'd comment code using links to reference material, like the API documentation for an API call being made. It was very handy. Links to Microsoft online documentation, however, tended to go stale very quickly. And it didn't just go stale, it would disappear (google could no longer find it). A lot of COM/ActiveX documentation has disappeared. I don't understand why Microsoft does this.

Someone 8y ago
They don’t want people to keep writing COM/ActiveX code, and they don’t want search engines to point you to such pages, so why would a commercial entity spend money to keep those pages around? Hosting costs may be peanuts for them, but there’s also maintenance. Even if they don’t bother updating the look of the site, there’s the fact that old sites eventually run on no longer supported technologies that may only run on unsupported OSes, both potentially riddled with security vulnerabilities.
- ericlippert 8y ago
  I take your point, but VS twitter is this week running a series of short videos with Larry Osterman about how awesome COM is, which seems to argue against this theory. That said, lots of times Microsoft's left hand does not know what the right hand is doing.
  - pjmlp 8y ago
    Hi Eric, I also find this theory quite strange, given that UWP is COM.
- maxxxxx 8y ago
  "They don’t want people to keep writing COM/ActiveX code, and they don’t want search engines to point you to such pages, so why would a commercial entity spend money to keep those pages around?" That would just be nuts. There is a ton of legacy code that needs maintenance and therefore needs documentation. this is not the JS world where it's OK to break stuff twice a year.
- pjmlp 8y ago
  The large majority of APIs introduced since Windows Vista are COM, even more so with WinRT/UAP/UWP. Win32 is mostly stuck in how Windows XP used to be.
shkkmo 8y ago
That is a very good point. I should start saving snapshots of the resources I want to link to in documentation using the "save now" feature at https://archive.org/web/ https://archive.org/web/ This way I know that the link will not rot and I will have a record of the exact information that lead to the decision I am documenting. Edit: I wonder how the wayback machine deals with GDPR compliance Edit 2: After further research, there is an exemption for archiving for the public interest. It looks like this was either an overreaction of MS's legal staff or simply blaming migration issues on GDPR.

Someone 8y ago

They don’t want people to keep writing COM/ActiveX code, and they don’t want search engines to point you to such pages, so why would a commercial entity spend money to keep those pages around? Hosting costs may be peanuts for them, but there’s also maintenance. Even if they don’t bother updating the look of the site, there’s the fact that old sites eventually run on no longer supported technologies that may only run on unsupported OSes, both potentially riddled with security vulnerabilities.

ericlippert 8y ago
I take your point, but VS twitter is this week running a series of short videos with Larry Osterman about how awesome COM is, which seems to argue against this theory. That said, lots of times Microsoft's left hand does not know what the right hand is doing.
- pjmlp 8y ago
  Hi Eric, I also find this theory quite strange, given that UWP is COM.
maxxxxx 8y ago
"They don’t want people to keep writing COM/ActiveX code, and they don’t want search engines to point you to such pages, so why would a commercial entity spend money to keep those pages around?" That would just be nuts. There is a ton of legacy code that needs maintenance and therefore needs documentation. this is not the JS world where it's OK to break stuff twice a year.
pjmlp 8y ago
The large majority of APIs introduced since Windows Vista are COM, even more so with WinRT/UAP/UWP. Win32 is mostly stuck in how Windows XP used to be.

shkkmo 8y ago

That is a very good point. I should start saving snapshots of the resources I want to link to in documentation using the "save now" feature at https://archive.org/web/ https://archive.org/web/ This way I know that the link will not rot and I will have a record of the exact information that lead to the decision I am documenting. Edit: I wonder how the wayback machine deals with GDPR compliance Edit 2: After further research, there is an exemption for archiving for the public interest. It looks like this was either an overreaction of MS's legal staff or simply blaming migration issues on GDPR.