[wp-hackers] Checking plugin version

[Otto]

On Sat, Sep 22, 2012 at 5:22 PM, Mike Schinkel <mike at newclarity.net> wrote:
> Hmm.  Why would you move away from...

I'll just stop you right there.

I was just saying how the core does it. The core is most likely to do
it in a way that is actually supported. While other methods may also
work, if it's not how core is doing it, then it's not guaranteed to
work now, or in the future. No promises, basically.

Why would I move anything away from anything? Answer: I wouldn't. But
I'm not the person doing most of the API request coding, and I would
be hesitant in relying on something that isn't being used by the core
in the same way. Yes, it works. Is that by design or by chance? No way
to tell, huh? Best to not become dependent on an undocumented and
currently unused methodology. If you stick with what core is doing, it
has a much higher chance of continuing to work for the forseeable
future.

I agree with you with regard to methodologies, and the fact that so
many API calls both expect and produce serialized PHP makes me
terribly sad. But I didn't write them, and I'm not writing the core
code that uses them either.

-Otto