Thank you for the additional issues to consider. The existing API is indeed fragile but for the moment I'm optimistic that we can create a drop in replacement with minimal issue. I prefer this approach because leaving `new Date(...)` the way it is will not address the inconsistencies which are our root problem, the web will still be broken. Asking developers to use a new API for cross compatibility is not much different than asking them to stick to ISO 8601.
If my optimism turns out to be unfounded I would support proposing that a new parser be implemented as `Date.parse` while leaving `Date`'s constructor essentially unchanged. However if we can do better than that, and I currently believe we can, we should. 2016-06-09 11:54 GMT-07:00 Mike Shaver <mike.sha...@gmail.com>: > I agree with the motivation of the proposal: provide reliable > cross-browser date parsing capability. The choices are: > > - change the behaviour of an existing, fragile API > - add a new API with well-specified behaviour > > To take advantage of the former case, a program must know that it's > running in an engine that has updated to the spec, by version checks or > (less likely on the web, IMO) probing with known patterns. To be damaged by > the former case, it need only trip over an edge case that was deemed > insignificant. > > To take advantage of the latter case, a program must also know that it's > running in an engine that has update to the spec, but it can do that > through feature testing. A program can't be damaged by the latter case. > > I am in favour of the latter case. > > Mike > > > On Thu, Jun 9, 2016 at 11:49 AM, Jim Blandy <jbla...@mozilla.com> wrote: > >> I'm not sure where you're going with this, other than, yes, any >> observable change to an API can have a negative impact. Making behavior >> consistent across browsers often has a positive impact as well. >> >> Do the observations you made suggest ways to improve the proposal? >> >> On Thu, Jun 9, 2016 at 11:43 AM, Mike Shaver <mike.sha...@gmail.com> >> wrote: >> >>> On Thu, Jun 9, 2016 at 11:42 AM, Jim Blandy <jbla...@mozilla.com> wrote: >>> >>>> The current behavior varies from one browser to another anyway. >>>> Assuming the new grammar only codifies existing practice, won't any such >>>> programs already be behaving inconsistently across browsers? >>>> >>> >>> Many programs adapt to the browser they're running in. >>> >>> Mike >>> >>> >> > _______________________________________________ dev-tech-js-engine-internals mailing list dev-tech-js-engine-internals@lists.mozilla.org https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/dev-tech-js-engine-internals
