[Bf-committers] Can we please stop breaking APIs?

[Knapp]

I think it is clear what is needed.

Devs:
Devs retaining the freedom and flexibly to continue to innovate and improve
blender without being boxed in by old stuff, standards and crud.
 (I am sure without having to document it would be wonderful too! :-)).

Programmers / Users:
Documentation of changes that are clear and easily available. Perhaps they
should ship with the product. Perhaps the change of the intro graphic would
be a signal to watch out for changes?

A transition period for that change to take effect that throws
deprecation warnings during which old and new should continue to work. No
one has addressed how long this should be. Should it be 6 months? That would
make it one Ubuntu cycle. Or maybe 12 months? That should be enough time for
anyone.

It was said that an API is not a language but really for anyone that
programs in it all day long, it is. Changing it is in effect changing the
language that the programmer has to work in, often in annoying pointless
ways (at least to the programmer). I see it like saying printf is not part
of c language, its just a function, but we all know it is and changing it
would really piss off a lot of people.

Change is good when it is progress and results in a better product. We are
all willing to put up with that but we don't like changes that do not appear
to benefit us. I know that sadly we programmers do not know the benefits
that the changes bring us because they are often hidden but we do know the
pain of it when they get in our way and slow us down and piss off our bosses
and customers.

Thanks devs for all the good, hard work!

-- 
Douglas E Knapp

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