Why is this change binary compatible and not source compatible?

[WizardBrony]

Type of issue

Other (describe below)

Description

This question is just one example where I am confused by the compatibility indictors for the listed .NET breaking changes. If I understand the change correctly, nothing changed with the ObjectResult.StatusCode API itself, so everything will compile the same, but the run-time behavior in this scenario (returning a T in a controller action that declares the return type ActionResult) changed. Doesn't that mean this change is binary incompatible and source compatible according to the documentation's definition?

• Binary compatible - Existing binaries will load and execute successfully without recompilation, and the run-time behavior won't change.
• Source compatible - Source code will compile successfully without changes when targeting the new runtime or using the new SDK or component.

Page URL

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/core/compatibility/aspnet-core/6.0/actionresult-statuscode

Content source URL

https://github.com/dotnet/docs/blob/main/docs/core/compatibility/aspnet-core/6.0/actionresult-statuscode.md

Document Version Independent Id

64b65b92-b86a-1741-2a38-c1119b7d2ed1

Article author

@CamSoper

Metadata

• ID: 204588be-f452-4db7-db93-ed4ea5af6cd0
• Service: dotnet-fundamentals

Related Issues

[CamSoper]

Thanks, @WizardBrony!

It certainly looks to me that you're correct--This seems to be classified wrong. I think the correct classification would be behavioral change.

This change was announced prior to me taking over maintenance of the breaking changes docs, so I'd like to ask around a little to make sure I'm not missing something before I update the doc.

CC: @gewarren

[gewarren]

Back when this breaking change was documented, we used different categories and definitions. The definitions were overhauled for .NET 7 and the new "behavioral change" category was introduced in the breaking change issue template at that time. So this particular breaking change is "correct" and consistent for .NET 6, but not .NET 7+. Sorry for the confusion.

.NET 6 definition of source incompatible: Source code may encounter a breaking change in behavior when targeting the new runtime/component/SDK, such as compile errors or different run-time behavior.

.NET 7+ definition: When recompiled using the new SDK or component or to target the new runtime, existing source code may require source changes to compile successfully.

[WizardBrony]

Ahh, that makes sense. Then what I think needs to be updated are the definitions at the top of the “Breaking changes” summary pages so that they match the template definitions as they were written at that version of .NET.

Breaking changes in .NET 6
Breaking changes in .NET 7