Change backwards-compatibility policy -------------------------------------
Key: LUCENE-1698 URL: https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/LUCENE-1698 Project: Lucene - Java Issue Type: Task Reporter: Michael Busch Assignee: Michael Busch Priority: Minor Fix For: 3.0 These proposed changes might still change slightly: I'll call X.Y -> X+1.0 a 'major release', X.Y -> X.Y+1 a 'minor release' and X.Y.Z -> X.Y.Z+1 a 'bugfix release'. (we can later use different names; just for convenience here...) 1. The file format backwards-compatiblity policy will remain unchanged; i.e. Lucene X.Y supports reading all indexes written with Lucene X-1.Y. That means Lucene 4.0 will not have to be able to read 2.x indexes. 2. Deprecated public and protected APIs can be removed if they have been released in at least one major or minor release. E.g. an 3.1 API can be released as deprecated in 3.2 and removed in 3.3 or 4.0 (if 4.0 comes after 3.2). 3. No public or protected APIs are changed in a bugfix release; except if a severe bug can't be changed otherwise. 4. Each release will have release notes with a new section "Incompatible changes", which lists, as the names says, all changes that break backwards compatibility. The list should also have information about how to convert to the new API. I think the eclipse releases have such a release notes section. Furthermore, the Deprecation tag comment will state the minimum version when this API is to be removed, e.g. @deprecated See #fooBar(). Will be removed in 3.3 or @deprecated See #fooBar(). Will be removed in 3.3 or later. I'd suggest to treat a runtime change like an API change (unless it's fixing a bug of course), i.e. giving a warning, providing a switch, switching the default behavior only after a major or minor release was around that had the warning/switch. -- This message is automatically generated by JIRA. - You can reply to this email to add a comment to the issue online. --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: java-dev-unsubscr...@lucene.apache.org For additional commands, e-mail: java-dev-h...@lucene.apache.org