Understanding WordPress' post type support

Question

I was hoping if someone could help me better understand WordPress' post type support.

remove_post_type_support( 'post', 'author' );

Above in example doesn't seem to actually remove the support, just hide things like (post) meta boxes and (edit) columns more globally compared to this example:

remove_meta_box( 'authordiv', 'post', 'normal' );
// unset( $columns['author'] );

Guessing because of this some modifications will be made to add_post_type_support sooner or later.

For future compatibility, which out of the above would you suggest for simply hiding things? (removing the author post type support could really mess up your site if remove_post_type_support would actually drop the support)

Answer 1

When you register post type, you can choose what support you need. For Example:

function codex_custom_init() {
    $args = array( 'public' => true, 'label' => 'Books', 'supports' => array( 'title', 'editor' ) );
    register_post_type( 'book', $args );
}
add_action( 'init', 'codex_custom_init' )

In this way you will create post type Books only with Title Option and Editor