Re: [PATCH 02/21] Return error messages when parsing fails.

Johan Herland <johan@herland.net> writes:

While I would agree that it makes sense to have the same definition of what is and is not a 100% well formatted tag object for producer side and consumer side, I do not necessarily think it is a good idea to make parse_tag_buffer() chattier on errors. mktag.c:verify_tag() can afford to be verbose in its diagnosis, because it is used when the user is _creating_ the tag, and it is generally a good idea to be strict when we create.

On the other hand, parse_tag_buffer() is on the side of users who use existing tag objects that were produced by somebody else. It is generally a good practice to be more lenient when you are consuming.

Also, callers of parse_tag_buffer() know the function is silent on errors (unless there is something seriously wrong with the repository); they do their own error messages when they get an error return.