Re: win32Lib Apps Crashing on Startup
- Posted by LarryMiller Dec 28, 2011
- 2782 views
Microsoft has always documented that handles are 32 bit values and unless specifically documented otherwise you should make no other assumptions about their values. In Windows 98 you could usually get away with using a Euphoria integer but this was only a fortunate accident and not part of the contract. Your can't reasonably blame Microsoft when applications don't follow the rules. I have seen this problem with XP and it probably happened with Windows 2000 as well. It wasn't common but it did happen.
A large number of application compatibility issues are caused by developers assuming that undocumented behavior will never change. Microsoft has actually gone to considerable lengths to ensure that applications that do this will continue to work. They have taken considerable criticism over this. The idea being that they should allow misbehaving applications to fail and thus force developers to follow the rules. But Microsoft is well aware that this won't always happen and they will receive the blame.
The lesson is to follow the rules and you won't get into trouble.
