Comment by quotemstr

19 hours ago

> A basic lesson we've learned over and over is that API/ABIs aren't final

I dunno --- getElementById has been stable for, what, 25 years? "There's no such thing as a stable API" is something said by people unable or unwilling to create interfaces that last. It's a statement of personal resignation, not cosmic impossibility. There are tons of counterexamples.

Application needs, like other needs, are infinite. You satisfy these needs by adding new APIs, not breaking working ones.

I think you'll find that even the most unstable APIs have extremely stable parts to them.

At the same time I don't think there is actually anything that most people would consider an API that is open to public usage that has maintained that kind of stability that getElementById has, which after all is something most people would describe as a method of an API.