Move Legacy Code into WordPress Plugin?

  • Dave Mackey

    (@davidshq)


    10 years, 5 months ago

    WordPress is well-known for its endeavors to maintain backwards compatibility with older releases. This is something it is both lauded and criticized for.

    What I am wondering is why this legacy functionality isn’t separated into a plugin?

    The reasons I think this would be a good thing:

    • The core codebase would shrink.
    • The surface area available for attack would shrink.
    • It would be clearly apparent which hooks, filters, etc. are preferred because older ones simply wouldn’t exist in the core code.

    Some might object that this makes it more difficult for individuals who need backwards compatibility, since they would need to install the plugin…but this could become part of the update process, e.g., the plugin could auto-install.

    This isn’t a criticism, it is more of a pondering. I know there are really bright folks in the WP community but I don’t see much discussion around this topic. Has there been some discussion that shut this idea down? If so, can you point me to it? If there hasn’t been discussion – what do you think?

    Thanks,
    Dave

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  • Takis Bouyouris

    (@nevma)

    10 years, 4 months ago

    I believe the issue with backwards compatibility is not whether legacy code could be encapsulated in a plugin, but how code parts are interwoven with each other. One part of code calls some other part of code and this one in return calls some other part. It is very hard to know and predict what might break if something is missing and the theme and plugin ecosystem is extremely big nowadays.

    In my mind the way WordPress has achieved backwards compatibility all these years, along with the ease of installation, low learning curve, beautiful themes and a vast plugin repository to choose from, have been key values to its success.

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