On Sun, Sep 5, 2010 at 4:29 PM, Olivier Sannier <obo...@free.fr> wrote: > Yeah, that's the problem I have. Maybe it's humor for the "compile then > ship" part,
It was humor. I was trying to make the point that just because something compiles does not mean it is ready to ship. I never meant to imply that adding VER defines to detect the next version so the code will compile, is enough to support a new version of Delphi. Ideally, a new COMPILER constant shouldn't be needed at all. Occasionally they are needed due to backwards compatibility not being available. Sometimes to address a bug in a specific version of Delphi. Often to take advantage of new features that older versions do not have, but newer versions are not likely to drop. My suggestion has nothing to do with lowering quality, but rather simplifying the support of new versions. Thorough code reviews, unit testing, automated testing, and other QA processes still apply. :) > That's why I prefer it does not silently compile so that I have to review > how it behaves with a new compiler version. When a new version of Delphi breaks one of my components, it isn't because they took away the Variants unit that was added in Delphi 6 or because they took away the VCL enhancements that were added in Delphi 2009. In my limited experience, most of the time that a _UP constant is used in source code due to a change in Delphi, it doesn't have to be undone later. I can't depend on compiler errors (introduced by a missing compiler version constant) to tell me that my component is broken in the new version of Delphi. Furthermore, it is a huge waste of my time to chase down false issues because my code doesn't "believe" that the features added in Delphi 7 are still present in Delphi XE. Back when I used the VER defines, my first step was to change my include file to assume that everything that was true in the previous version is still true in the new version. Then I reviewed "What's Changed" documentation to see what applies to my components. And then I started code reviews and testing. When I stopped using VER constants, the only thing that changed is that I spend a lot less time maintaining the include file. -- Jon Robertson Borland Certified Advanced Delphi 7 Developer Good programming is 40% experience, 30% skill, 20% RTFM, 10% caffeine, and 5% attention to detail. -- To unsubscribe or change your settings for TWSocket mailing list please goto http://lists.elists.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/twsocket Visit our website at http://www.overbyte.be
