context_pmc3 branch and backward compatibility.

[Vasily Chekalkin]

Allison Randal wrote:
> Vasily Chekalkin wrote:
>> Hello.
>>
>> In context_pmc3 branch I converted direct using of Parrot_Context* to 
>> Context PMC. Unfortunately it will break any HLL which depend on 
>> current Parrot_Context struct.
>>
>> So, question is "Does deprecation policy cover this situation and we 
>> have to live with refcounted Context which causes memory leaks, 
>> segfaults and eat kittens for breakfast until next deprecation cycle"?
> 
> Yes, it means it has to wait. Which gives you plenty of time to add a 
> deprecation notice, and think about a sane migration strategy for the 
> users. And, to do performance testing, to see if the change will help or 
> hurt us.

*sigh*

>> Ah. And yes, branch is ready for code review.
> 
> And plenty of time for code review, and any fixes based on the code review.
> 
> It's possible that you might merge some of the changes into trunk before 
>  2.0, if you can split out a subset that preserves the existing 
> behavior. (I haven't looked at the code yet, so can't say for sure if 
> that would work here.)

Unfortunately, context_pmc3 branch is bare minimum to start working on 
proper enclosing of Context handling using API functions, not poking 
into struct guts. So, it's virtually impossible to merge anything from 
branch into trunk.

-- 
Bacek.