[PD] self-modifying and dynamic patching

[Phil Stone]

Good point; I assume you're going to emphasize the pitfalls of dynamic 
patching while you're at it, Derek?  I have a habit of opening up 
patches to see how they work, and if I can't read them because they're 
too messy, I'll move stuff around.  This is fine, unless it's a dynamic 
patch and I hit "ctrl-s" without thinking.  D'oh!  The initial state of 
a dynamic patch is critical to its correct function, and one has to 
think very carefully before saving changes.  I think I'm going to 
develop the habit of putting a large warning comment on any 
self-modifying patch.

Phil


IOhannes m zmoelnig wrote:
> however, my experiences with abcde were the main reason i s did not 
> touch self-modifying patches for years and years.
> the lesson i learned was: never do self-modification in patches that 
> other people will ever have to regularily use.
> (the original phrase would have been "never do self-modification in 
> patches that other people will ever have to maintain"; however, this 
> might give the impression that chances are low that somebody else will 
> really have to "maintain" a patch); in practice you pass 
> maintainership to somebody as soon as you give them your patch: they 
> will eventually start to modify it.