> I could probably still compile C++ code from 1996, you can't even compile Scala code from 2012. You might be surprised. Try compiling PRCS [1], for example.

> I could probably still compile C++ code from 1996, you can't even compile Scala code from 2012. You might be surprised. Try compiling PRCS [1], for example. There are two problems that you're likely to encounter. One, C++ standards compliance has always been a challenge (as a result of overly complex language design), and older compilers often weren't compliant. g++ 3.x in particular comes to mind. The other problem is that people often inadvertently used non-portable language extensions that allowed non-compliant code to compile. That's not counting the language-independent issue with evolving libraries, where the 1996 version compiles, but is essentially useless, and the 2014 version is subtly (or not so subtly) different (if it hasn't been discontinued). [1] http://prcs.sourceforge.net/ http://prcs.sourceforge.net/