Compatibility in API evolution
Thursday, 6. December 2007
Following compatibilities should be considered in evolution of existing API.
- Contract compatibility
- Binary compatibility
- Source compatibility
The contract compatibility is independent of programming languages, but the binary compatibility and source compatility may not. Designing Eclipse APIs appeared in EclipseCon 2006 provides general compatibility issues with Java examples. It also provides 13 questions on Java binary/source compatibility. It was not easy at all for me and I could learn a lot from the material.
