From: Bill Kelly <billk@...>
Date: 2009-05-05T22:10:49+09:00
Subject: Re: Should I upgrade Ruby from 1.8.5 to 1.8.7?


From: "Rick DeNatale" <rick.denatale@gmail.com>
>
> > On Tue, May 5, 2009 at 2:47 AM, Bill Kelly <billk@cts.com> wrote:
> >
> > My understanding is that Cali's statement should be correct.
> >
> > Code that works on 1.8.6 should work on 1.8.7. (But not
> > necessarily vice-versa.)
> 
> It's actually not true in general.  There is lots of old 1.8.6 based
> code, for example Rails applications running on not-so old versions of
> Rails which won't run on 1.8.7.
> 
> If you really go back and read that long thread, I think you'll find
> that while later versions of ruby libraries like Rails have made
> changes to accommodate the changes made in 1.8.7, that was
> accomplished by changing the code, not by changes to Ruby 1.8.7. So
> it's very likely that, say an old Rails 1.2.x (or even I think a Rails
> 2.x (for some value of x < the version which was 1.8.7 compatible)
> won't run or won't run correctly under 1.8.7.

Okay.

Although, if memory serves, there were some similar
issues with Rails and the transition from 1.8.4 ->
1.8.6 . . .

Google found, for instance:

http://dlfaquifer.blogspot.com/2008/03/ruby-on-rails-upgrade-woes.html

  "I've had a terrible experience trying to do a full
  stack upgrade of Ruby and Rails (Ruby 1.8.4 -> 1.8.6,
  Rails 1.1.6 -> 1.2.6). Two changes in core Ruby classes
  caused problems for me, plus the continued poor support
  for MS SQL Server in ActiveRecord continues to plague
  me. It may have put me off upgrading my RoR apps. any
  more."

In which case, it may not be entirely fair to single out
1.8.7 in this regard?


Regards,

Bill