[jongjong]

Forcing all clients to reload their code at the same time sounds like a bad idea. Allowing different clients to run different incompatible versions of the code at the same time also sounds like a bad idea.

APIs are like database engines; they should rarely change. Making it easy to change them is an anti-pattern.

Engineers don't build bridges with replaceable pillars or skyscrapers with replaceable foundations. When aerospace engineers tried building a plane with replaceable engines, we got Boeing 737 Max...

[tzmudzin]

Engine replacement happens on airplanes fairly frequently. You don't want to scrap an airplane because of a single damaged turbine blade, or even keep it on the ground for longer.

https://jalopnik.com/how-airlines-decide-to-replace-jet-engi....

[jongjong]

Yes but the new parts meet the specs of the original design. The design itself isn't flexible. You can't make the engines significantly bigger without significantly revising the blueprint as a whole. That was the Boeing Max lesson. Just changing the software was not enough.

[p_l]

737 MAX had nothing to do with replaceable engines, but with trying to run an ancient airframe with new engines but without necessary upgrades to support the new engines because of costs.

[jongjong]

Replaceable at the design level. OMG. Why do I have to explain everything? Clearly I'm talking about blueprints here. Code is a blueprint since you can launch multiple processes/instances running the same code.

[p_l]

And then you went and got even less on track, because offering multiple engines and re-engining aircraft is the norm, sometimes to very different engines (like Russian engines offered as upgrades to old Mirages)

[jongjong]

Clearly there is a limit as to how different the engines can be in terms of size, weight, thrust, etc... Still if they want to add different engines, with different characteristics, they need to rerun all the calculations and tests to make sure it works with the frame, wings and everything else. No serious engineer outside of software realm aims to design silver bullet solutions. They always aim for a very specific solution.

If they need to adapt the solution later, they know it will involve a lot of re-working and require re-running all the calculations. This is fine. Nobody needs silver bullet solutions.

With software, if you design your API poorly and can't fix it in a backwards-compatible way, you can just release a new API version and migrate over to the new endpoints over time.