Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

Cool, thanks. I mostly want to make sure we don't have any blind spots here; this is an issue we care about deeply. I think it's also important to remember that even languages which are known for "no breaking changes" do introduce breaking changes. Take Java for example, known for being an exemplar in this space.

  > However, implementation of some Java SE 8 features required changes that could
  > cause code that compiled with Java SE 7 to fail to compile with Java SE 8.
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/8-compatibilit...

Especially in a statically-typed language, technically breaking changes are a fact of life. The key is to make them as minimal as possible, so that you don't struggle to update.

(Oh, and glad to hear you like the errors: we're actually working on making them even better. Elm is really leading the way here...)



Thanks for the response! I'm excited to see what you all do with the errors:)

The UX of compilers have been improving dramatically lately...


If you're interested in the nitty gritty, there's some info in this PR: https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/pull/32756

Though Steve may be talking about some newer work that I haven't heard of yet.


There's also stuff like this: https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/pull/34789

In general, Jonathan and Niko are working on it :)


Between Rust's and Elm's error messages, Go's focus on compilation speed, and even GCC's improvements in diagnostics, I'm really enjoying this focus on developer UX I see. It's made me more UX-conscious in my own tools.




Consider applying for YC's Winter 2026 batch! Applications are open till Nov 10

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: