Understanding Radio Compatibility and Version Checking in Code

[trya2l]

Hi, I'm trying to determine if my SX1272 LoRa module is compatible with the lib, as it isn't explicitly mentioned. I came across a piece of code that seems to check the radio version:

// LoRa.cpp
// ...
// int LoRaClass::begin(long frequency)
// ...
// check version
uint8_t version = readRegister(REG_VERSION);
if (version != 0x12) { // Is this the version of the SX1276?
    return 0;
}
// ...

1. Is this code really checking the radio version?
2. If so, could you basically explain for a layman why a radio of the same family is not compatible, and maybe what are the difficulties to support the sx1272?

I'd appreciate any insights into how this works under the hood and whether my SX1272 module can be used with this library.