Comment by steveklabnik
7 years ago
I don’t think that making the cycle time longer helps; I think making it shorter helps. There’s less pressure to put something in a specific release when they happen less frequently. You can, counter-intuitively, take your time.
I know less about the exact details, but I also think that having something to play with helps; I believe that this is what’s going on with with the move towards more TSes before shipping spec text, right? Being able to try things out in nightly helps us a lot.
If your goal is to help improve C++, sure, a shorter cycle time is better. If your goal is to use the language as a communication mechanism... having it change constantly underneath you isn't helpful in my experience. And it's not necessary to release a new standard to let people try things out; you can let people play around with new features without iterating on them as formal standards.
“Change constantly” is too broad; there are different kinds of changes. Stability is paramount.
If you find it too broad then just narrow it down in your mind. You won't be left with the null set.
> There’s less pressure to put something in a specific release when they happen less frequently.
I think this phrasing contradicts your point. Do you mean "more frequently", or am I missing something?
I did, my mistake!