[Chandler-dev] Re: Bugs found only in debug versions

[Katie Capps Parlante]

Hi John,

D John Anderson wrote:
> If you'd like I could find out the consequence of the bug in the release 
> version.

My point in sending the email is to be clear that yes, we'd love to (a) 
know if there are indeed demonstrable serious, showstopping consequences 
of the problem in the release version and (b) have an actual fix for the 
problem. A fix is of course more important/useful/helpful.

The decision to not hold the release does not imply that we are 
uninterested in having a fix.

> It usually isn't safe to conclude that the assert in the debug version 
> isn't a problem by just trying to reproduce the bug in the release 
> version. Typically you need to have the programmer look at the cause of 
> the error with an understanding of the error and code involved.

Yes, we understand that. That the same scenario does or doesn't cause 
obvious problems in the release version *is* a salient data point, 
however; you shouldn't be surprised that QA's next action when seeing 
bugs in debug versions is to go and try the same steps in the release 
version. At no time did anyone suggest that developers *not* try and 
understand what was going wrong -- just to be clear.

The bug council has read the comments in these bugs, the results of 
developers such as yourself looking at the errors. Bryan Stearns 
reported that in his best judgment we should not block Preview given his 
understanding of the error.

> That said, I'm not suggesting we hold up the release for any particular 
> bug. I just want to provide the most accurate information to help the 
> bug council make their decisions.

I'm comfortable with the decision *not to block the release* given the 
information we have. That said, I wouldn't want you to think we are 
somehow preventing you (or anyone else) from fixing the root bug. We'd 
certainly take a fix in 0.7.1, or possibly make other adjustments if new 
information comes to light.

Cheers,
Katie