61
Is it really a breaking change if a method changes output after an update? (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 year ago by asdfasdfasdf@lemmy.world to c/programming@programming.dev
23 comments fedilink hide all child comments

This might seem obviously "yes" at first, but consider a method like foo.debugRepr() which outputs the string FOO and has documentation which says it is meant only to be used for logging / debugging. Then you make a new release of your library and want to update the debug representation to be **FOO**.

Based on the semantics of debugRepr() I would argue that this is NOT a breaking change even though it is returning a different value, because it should only affect logging. However, if someone relies on this and uses it the wrong way, it will break their code.

What do you think? Is this a breaking change or not?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] shasta@lemm.ee 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

For debug code, anything goes. For API, it should be versioned if you're worried about this kind of thing. Such as /v2/ in the path, or a version property on a returned object.

this post was submitted on 07 Sep 2023
61 points (96.9% liked)

Programming

17691 readers
113 users here now

Welcome to the main community in programming.dev! Feel free to post anything relating to programming here!

Cross posting is strongly encouraged in the instance. If you feel your post or another person's post makes sense in another community cross post into it.

Hope you enjoy the instance!

Rules

Rules

  • Follow the programming.dev instance rules
  • Keep content related to programming in some way
  • If you're posting long videos try to add in some form of tldr for those who don't want to watch videos

Wormhole

Follow the wormhole through a path of communities !webdev@programming.dev

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
snowe@programming.dev
Ategon@programming.dev
MaungaHikoi@lemmy.nz