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Having an inconsistent, special case way of doing something in the name of backwards compatibility is the defining characteristic of C++.
by jlarocco 2y ago
Having an inconsistent, special case way of doing something in the name of backwards compatibility is the defining characteristic of C++.
- Night_Thastus 2y agoIt's a tradeoff. For example: With Python Python breaking changes are more common, and everyone complains about how much they have to go and fix every time something changes. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Either have good backwards compatibility but sloppy older parts of the language - or have a 'cleaner' overall language at the cost of crushing the community every time you want to change anything.
- jlarocco 2y agoI'm fully aware, just pointing out that C++ is particularly afflicted with backward compatibility issues; far more than other languages. "The Design and Evolution of C++" gives the impression that even back in the 80s, major concessions were being made in the name of compatibility. At that time it was with C; now it's with previous versions of C++.