[clang] [Docs] Explicitly document libclang ABI and API stability (PR #141657)
Aaron Ballman via cfe-commits
cfe-commits at lists.llvm.org
Wed May 28 05:11:35 PDT 2025
================
@@ -358,3 +358,46 @@ Complete example code
.. _Index.h: https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/blob/main/clang/include/clang-c/Index.h
+
+.. _Stability:
+
+ABI and API Stability
+---------------------
+
+The C interfaces in libclang are intended to be relatively stable. This allows
+a programmer to use libclang without having to worry as much about Clang
+upgrades breaking existing code. However, the library is not unchanging. For
+example, the library will gain new interfaces over time as needs arise,
+existing APIs may be deprecated for eventual removal, etc. Also, the underlying
+implementation of the facilities by Clang may change behavior as bugs are
+fixed, features get implemented, etc.
+
+The library should be ABI and API stable over time, but ABI- and API-breaking
+changes can happen in the following situations:
+
+* Adding new enumerator to an enumeration (can be ABI-breaking in C++).
+* Removing an explicitly deprecated API after a suitably long deprecation
+ period.
+* Uses of implementation details, such names or comments that say something is
+ "private", "reserved", "internal", etc.
----------------
AaronBallman wrote:
I tried to make it more clear that the list is non-exhaustive, and I added some wording about bug fixes.
https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/pull/141657
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