I recently asked a question on updating programming packages (on systems that provide programmer tools via packages) for which there has been no response. This leads me to ask the following question. As a software developer over the years, I've encountered enough bugs in tools that lead me to want to keep at the most recent stable release/update. The important caveat being that near the release date of a component, only clearly necessary changes are introduced. I would like to get a better understanding of the spectrum of how developers deal with new releases to the tools they use. So what do YOU do? Monitor mail lists and update to new releases after careful analysis or on a whim? Take whatever releases project management provides/permits? Out of desperation in response to a gnarly bug you're trying to fix? Something else entirely?
I would like to get a better understanding of the spectrum of how developers deal with new releases to the tools they use. So what do YOU do?
I grab the final release of the new tools as soon as it's available. That is in my private environment.
At work there is often just one specific version which is bought and expected to be used for several years. Developers cannot influence that.
At home I develop in Xcode. I maintain at least 2 versions of the environment, the current official release and the latest beta release. Both versions are kept up to date. If there are any issues with any of my projects and a new release of Xcode, I fix the issues with my project. Under no circumstances will I keep an older environment around for compatibility reasons. Most of my development is done against the stable API unless I need a feature from the beta API. All testing is done in both environments, so that hopefully I'll be able to catch bugs related to API changes as soon as possible. I don't know if I should credit my mad development skills or the quality of Apple's releases, but I rarely encounter any issues with API/SDK changes.
At work I develop in Visual Studio 2005 / Windows XP. It's horrible and there's nothing we can do about it.