[Python-Dev] Preventing 1.5 extensions crashing under 1.6/2.0 Python

[Paul Prescod]

Mark Hammond wrote:
> 
> ...
> > > On Windows, link-time compatibility is broken whenever we change the
> > > second digit of the version number, e.g. 15, 16, 20.
> >
> > Yikes, lets not let that happen!
> 
> Ideally, I agree.  However, Im not sure how we can make this happen!  Any
> ideas on how we can achieve this?  And I mean in a practical sense, rather
> than with a hand-waving abstract theory - ie, specifically what
> developement practices should change, or be put in place, to ensure this?

Someone who is very interested in this backwards compatibility issue
could make a stub Python15.dll that exposes the old API with the exact
same (old) semantics. If it turns out to be easy, great. If it turns out
to be difficult then we know that the APIs changed too much for it to be
practical. If programs start crashing, we blame the person who promised
backwads compatibility.

-- 
 Paul Prescod - Not encumbered by corporate consensus
Simplicity does not precede complexity, but follows it. 
	- http://www.cs.yale.edu/~perlis-alan/quotes.html