[LLVMdev] Question about changes to llvm::Argument::addAttr(AttributeSet AS) API

[Bill Wendling]

On Feb 6, 2013, at 2:02 AM, Óscar Fuentes <ofv at wanadoo.es> wrote:

> Bill Wendling <wendling at apple.com> writes:
> 
> [snip]
> 
>> Welcome to living on the top-of-tree! :-)
>> 
>> We are in between releases. It's expected that the APIs will be
>> unstable. [snip]
> 
> One thing is an unstable API, and a different thing is a code base where
> an API change is introduced gradually. From the POV of users, the latter
> is more like a pre-alpha stage API.
> 
> Using development branches would lessen the problem: you work on your
> branch until you are happy with the API, then merge the changes into
> trunk. When you are the only one working on the task, it is very easy to
> do using git-svn.
> 
> As for living on the top-of-tree: with the development model of LLVM it
> is desirable that as much users as possible work with ToT, because the
> bug reports those users contribute. (And, what is the standard response
> when somebody finds a bug on a released version? "upgrade to ToT") So
> you don't want to scare away people from working with ToT.

Using a development branch and then slamming those changes into trunk is at odds with the llvm style incremental development philosophy. Living on ToT isn't easy. No one ever said it would be. The changes that are being complained about have only been happening for about a week now. And they're more stable day by day.

-bw