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    You don't maintain Array.Sort()... Not until you paste the implementation into your own code and use it in lieu of the library version. For the most part, you shrug and let Microsoft and Windows Update take care of the framework, but no such luxury is afforded you for those snippets you pulled of the 'Net. And if you're gonna maintain it, you'd better understand it... (oh, look, S.Lott already had this discussion earlier) Commented Jun 28, 2011 at 23:29
  • Microsoft has no legal obligation to me or my product; if I found a bug in Array.Sort() tomorrow they don't have to fix it. I'm not implying that MS wouldn't. But I am saying anytime you use someone else's code, via library or cut/paste you are assuming responsibility for that code. If it doesn't work, your users are going to blame you. I'd say the .Net Framework is a pretty safe risk to take; but there are certainly companies that produce .Net libraries one day and then close shop the next. Commented Jun 28, 2011 at 23:37
  • the risks of relying on libraries, especially libraries where you don't have the option to patch when critically-necessary, is worthy fodder for a whole question in and of itself. But the fact remains, Array.Sort() is someone else's responsibility - if they drop the ball, that sucks for everyone, but assuming they don't it's one less thing for you to worry about. But bring code into your own app, with no one else maintaining it, and it's on you to find and fix problems. If you wait to understand it until there's a problem, you're waiting for a fix from yourself - worst of both worlds. Commented Jun 28, 2011 at 23:42
  • Most of the time ( in enterprise app world ) some team develops the code and that team would not be responsible for maintaining it. So there will not be much of a sense of "ownership". That means one can carelessly pull whatever code works for him and ignore whatever happens later. Commented Jun 29, 2011 at 18:47