Mathias Bauer wrote:
> I don't know what "discouraging" means. At the end developers choose the
> language they prefer, and if we don't forbid to use C++, people will
> continue to choose it at times. And as I hope you don't ask for
> forbidding C++, we have the obligation to not break it intentionally.
> 
Hi Mathias,

discouraging means just that: make people aware of the mentioned 
drawbacks, and encourage them to use another implementation
language. Otherwise, agreed, with the exception that we actually
*do* talk about *intentionally* breaking API compatibility in the
first place!

> If an OOo release came with an API that is incompatible to a
> large extent, we could also change the C++ binding incompatibly - as
> well as any other language binding. But changing the C++ binding with
> every release just because "it's fragile anyway" isn't a good idea.
> 
I'm not proposing that. But to reiterate: it's much easier to break
c++ than any other language binding. See for example the "adding a
new method to an interface" change Frank was talking about - no prob
for all the language bindings, _except_ c++. 

> Maybe it's harder to deal with C++ than with e.g. Java. But that
> shouldn't be a reason not to try it.
> 
Sure. Still, I think c++ should carry less weight (compared to e.g.
Java or Python), when it comes to deciding whether an incompatible 
change is worth it - like balancing the pain a core dev has with a 
badly designed interface, vs. the effort an external component 
provider has when adapting to that change.

I actually very much like the idea of only catering for actively
maintained extensions; which would make the mere re-compilation of a
c++ extension against a new SDK almost a non-issue to me.

Cheers,

-- Thorsten

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