Why can't Microsoft just patch everything 6613

On Thu, 01 Dec 2005 13:50:43 -0600, Erik Funkenbusch

This may be your Microsoft party line, but it bears no resemblance to the truth. Individual components with small, stable and well defined interfaces do not have the problem that a change in one component causes problems in another, as long as the interface contract remains the same.

There is a problem buttociated with large monolithic systems, where there are not a well defined interfaces between components and there is often direct access to variables. While I haven't seen the Windows code, Windows shows all the signs of a poorly designed monolithic system.

Note: The use of DLL's does not ensure that there is not direct access to variables, causing reliability issues. Variables can be exported. I have heard from people who have worked on Windows, that there is a great deal of use of global variables.

The monolithic design is cheaper to code and runs faster in the beginning. However, after a while as more functionality is added, the cost per function increases exponentially and there are buttociated reliability and security issues. This is Project Management 101 stuff. If you claim anything else, then you are obviously one of those programmers, who stick with Windows, because you can blame the OS when your bad code fails.

Ian