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<blockquote data-quote="blackheart42" data-source="post: 165072" data-attributes="member: 25694">Then the informative message should be reworded since all it says is:&quot;The currently selected skin is outdated.&nbsp; This will cause problems when using MP!&nbsp; (Do NOT file bugreports using this skin)&quot;.&nbsp; There is no suggestion that the problems will only be with new features.&nbsp; In fact, the skin that I prefer has a problem with RC1 that makes it hard to use until the developer fixes it.I think that I remember seeing the &quot;don't show again&quot; box on the warning message, but it's not there with RC1.A proper API would make it unnecessary for the skin developer to spend any time reviewing changes until he wanted to update his skin to include new features.&nbsp; Of course, this assumes that the number of bug fixes in the existing code has fallen to a low level.The API would be a documented list of all interactions that are possible between MP and the skin.&nbsp; In the example you gave above the new button would be added to the document to show the new feature and how to use it.&nbsp; But the biggest value of the API is that once the new button has been added to it, it can only be changed if there's a bug fix and then the change is documented in the API.&nbsp; Rather than doing a compare between sourcecode versions and trying to puzzle out the new bits, the developer just goes to the API document to check the new or changed info.Modern computer systems could not exist without APIs.&nbsp; They control how software interfaces with hardware, how operating systems interact with applications and how applications interact with each other.&nbsp; Some examples are BIOS calls, Windows32 API, even Google Maps has an API.&nbsp; They allow developers to work independently on different parts of a system and still have their parts work together without having to continuously monitor changes in those other parts.Without a documented API, changes in MP can break a skin without anyone intending to or even realizing that it's happened.&nbsp; MP has already started along the API route with things like standardized id numbers for the XML pages.&nbsp; There's even an unused link on the developers page to &quot;APIs and functions&quot;.Lack of standardized APIs (not just between MP and the skin - I suspect that others will be required) will limit MP's growth in the future.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="blackheart42, post: 165072, member: 25694"] Then the informative message should be reworded since all it says is: "The currently selected skin is outdated. This will cause problems when using MP! (Do NOT file bugreports using this skin)". There is no suggestion that the problems will only be with new features. In fact, the skin that I prefer has a problem with RC1 that makes it hard to use until the developer fixes it. I think that I remember seeing the "don't show again" box on the warning message, but it's not there with RC1. A proper API would make it unnecessary for the skin developer to spend any time reviewing changes until he wanted to update his skin to include new features. Of course, this assumes that the number of bug fixes in the existing code has fallen to a low level. The API would be a documented list of all interactions that are possible between MP and the skin. In the example you gave above the new button would be added to the document to show the new feature and how to use it. But the biggest value of the API is that once the new button has been added to it, it can only be changed if there's a bug fix and then the change is documented in the API. Rather than doing a compare between sourcecode versions and trying to puzzle out the new bits, the developer just goes to the API document to check the new or changed info. Modern computer systems could not exist without APIs. They control how software interfaces with hardware, how operating systems interact with applications and how applications interact with each other. Some examples are BIOS calls, Windows32 API, even Google Maps has an API. They allow developers to work independently on different parts of a system and still have their parts work together without having to continuously monitor changes in those other parts. Without a documented API, changes in MP can break a skin without anyone intending to or even realizing that it's happened. MP has already started along the API route with things like standardized id numbers for the XML pages. There's even an unused link on the developers page to "APIs and functions". Lack of standardized APIs (not just between MP and the skin - I suspect that others will be required) will limit MP's growth in the future. [/QUOTE]

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