[PD] the behaviour of [list length] has changed!!

[matteo sisti sette]

Hi,

Up to at least version 0.40.1, [list length] used to output the number
of arguments of a list or message (exactly as documented), which means
that [walk the dog( had length 2, not 3.

Now, in 0.41-2, it treats the message as a list and outputs the length
of the list, that is [walk the dog( has length 3 which is the same as
[list walk the dog(

Just compare how the help patch for [list length] behaves in version
0.40.1 and in 0.41.2 (not sure where the change happened).

This new behaviour may perhaps be "better" than the old one (it is
more coherent with the behaviour of all other [list] objects which
always convert any message to a list), however:

1 - this is DISASTROUS for backward compatibility. Patches written for
older versions will behave differently on the new version!
2 - the documentation (help patch) is unchanged, and there is no
ambiguity in it: it describes the old behaviour.

Was this change intentional? Is there a reason so good to be worth
such a huge break in backward compatibility?

If so, the help patch should be updated.

-- 
Matteo Sisti Sette
matteosistisette at gmail.com
http://www.matteosistisette.com