Support 1.15 and 1.16 with the same codebase

[SamMan]

Hello!

 

I've been making a small utility mod for 1.15, for use as a client mod on a vanilla server (that supports connections from 1.15 and 1.16). However it's about time to update to support 1.16, which leads me with a problem.

 

As the server has users on both 1.15 and 1.16, I really want to be able to release versions for both. 1.16 hasn't introduced any new functionality for the mod, so all features should be compatible on both versions.

 

However, I really don't want to duplicate the entire codebase, as this would lead to issues when I want to add a new feature, as I'd have to program it twice (and potentially make mistakes twice) and it would generally be a bit of a hassle.

 

So, is there a way to structure the mod such that it can be compatible, or at least built for both versions, from one codebase? The general idea is that I'd abstract away everything such that all orders to minecraft go through an interface, and then the interface will deal with the version specific stuff, but is there a way in Forge to pull something like this off?

 

Thanks for reading ❤️

[Draco18s]

Hahahaha no.

The underlying code that your mod operates on has changed.

Edited July 20, 2020 by Draco18s

[SamMan]

12 minutes ago, Draco18s said:

Hahahaha no.

The underlying code that your mod operates on has changed.

No dice at all? As in, with a good enough layer of abstraction and stuff I control, there's still no way I can leave all calls to that underlying code to small chunks I can replace much easier?

[Draco18s]

No.

The only way to write an abstraction layer that would be able to determine which method to call (eg. if its signature changed in any way) without crashing would be reflection. And using reflection on every point your code touches Forge or Vanilla would bog the JVM down to uselessness.

 

That's why major versions exist.

[SamMan]

9 minutes ago, Draco18s said:

No.

Aah no worries then, thanks for keepin me real lol