Re: Old gtk binaries with new bindings? Or not?

[muppet <scott asofyet org>]

On Apr 8, 2006, at 9:03 AM, A. Pagaltzis wrote:

> bear in mind that I don’t actually know what I’m talking about,
> I only know the theory. That said:
>
> * Daniel Kasak <dan entropy homelinux org> [2006-04-08 05:30]:
> > Is it a very bad idea to use bindings compiled against a
> > current gtk with an earlier version?
>
> Yes. You can use bindings compiled against an old gtk+ binary
> with a new gtk+ binary, but not the other way around.

The basic reason is that the bindings have to include real code to  
support functions in the base library, and the bindings choose which  
subset of functions to include based on the version of the base  
library available at compile time.

There's no problem with there being more stuff in the base library  
than the binding supports (running with newer gtk+ than compiled  
for), but things get upset if you try to load a program that refers  
to things that are missing (running with older gtk+ than compiled for).

Note that this really only applies to minor version differences  
(changes in x.y.z's y); micro versions of the same minor version  
should be replaceable.  That is, you should be able to compile  
against 2.6.9 and run with 2.6.1 (though the higher versions are  
usually less buggy).


--
I believe that if music companies are going to set examples they need  
to do it to appropriate people and not dead people.
  --  Robin Chianumba