Re: GInterfaces and API Stability

["BJörn Lindqvist" <bjourne gmail com>]

On Nov 14, 2007 7:54 AM, Kalle Vahlman <kalle vahlman gmail com> wrote:
> Matthias is right IMO, if you need to limit the additions of
> GInterface methods for C#, it should be done by the binding. Of
> course, if this is a more general problem, *then* it might be
> approperiate to refrain from adding interface methods in stable
> series. But it doesn't seem to be so.

Lets say GTK+ 2.14 adds the function gtk_ibar_fiddle_foo() to the
interface GtkIBar. If I use the GtkIBar interface I except the
gtk_ibar_fiddle_foo() method to be there. If a method in another
library compiled against GTK+ 2.12 returns a new GtkIBar object then
the gtk_ibar_fiddle_foo() method will not be present. The likely
result is a segfault in my program when I call gtk_ibar_fiddle_foo().
So yes, adding interface methods is definitely breaks both API and ABI
stability.

Python bindings doesn't force you to implement all methods an
interface specifies so adding interface methods doesn't break the
program directly. But you still get a segfault sooner or later when
the nonexistent method is called.


-- 
mvh Björn