001 /*
002 * CDDL HEADER START
003 *
004 * The contents of this file are subject to the terms of the
005 * Common Development and Distribution License, Version 1.0 only
006 * (the "License"). You may not use this file except in compliance
007 * with the License.
008 *
009 * You can obtain a copy of the license at
010 * trunk/opends/resource/legal-notices/OpenDS.LICENSE
011 * or https://OpenDS.dev.java.net/OpenDS.LICENSE.
012 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions
013 * and limitations under the License.
014 *
015 * When distributing Covered Code, include this CDDL HEADER in each
016 * file and include the License file at
017 * trunk/opends/resource/legal-notices/OpenDS.LICENSE. If applicable,
018 * add the following below this CDDL HEADER, with the fields enclosed
019 * by brackets "[]" replaced with your own identifying information:
020 * Portions Copyright [yyyy] [name of copyright owner]
021 *
022 * CDDL HEADER END
023 *
024 *
025 * Copyright 2008 Sun Microsystems, Inc.
026 */
027 package org.opends.server.types;
028
029
030
031 /**
032 * This class implements an enumeration whose values may be used to
033 * indicate the stability level of API classes and/or methods. Code
034 * which is part of the OpenDS public API should be marked with a
035 * {@code COMMITTED}, {@code UNCOMMITTED}, {@code VOLAITLE}, or
036 * {@code OBSOLETE} stability level in order to indicate the relative
037 * likelihood that the associated interface will be changed in an
038 * incompatible way in the future.
039 * <BR><BR>
040 * Third-party developers are free to create code that introduces
041 * dependencies on OpenDS APIs that are marked {@code COMMITTED},
042 * {@code UNCOMMITTED}, or {@code VOLATILE}, with an understanding
043 * that the less stable an OpenDS API is, the more likely that
044 * third-party code which relies upon it may need to be altered in
045 * order to work properly with future versions.
046 * <BR><BR>
047 * Changes to the stability level of a class or package should only be
048 * made between major releases and must be denoted in the release
049 * notes for all releases with that major version. If a public API
050 * element that is marked {@code COMMITTED}, {@code UNCOMMITTED}, or
051 * {@code VOLATILE} is to be made private, it is strongly recommended
052 * that it first be transitioned to {@code OBSOLETE} before ultimately
053 * being marked {@code PRIVATE}.
054 * <BR><BR>
055 * New packages and classes introduced into the OpenDS code base may
056 * be assigned any stability level. New methods introduced into
057 * existing classes that are part of the public API may be created
058 * with any stability level as long as the introduction of that method
059 * is compliant with the stability level of the class. If a method
060 * that is part of the OpenDS public API is not marked with an
061 * explicit stability level, then it should be assumed that it has the
062 * same stability level as the class that contains it.
063 */
064 @org.opends.server.types.PublicAPI(
065 stability=org.opends.server.types.StabilityLevel.UNCOMMITTED,
066 mayInstantiate=false,
067 mayExtend=false,
068 mayInvoke=true)
069 public enum StabilityLevel
070 {
071 /**
072 * The associated package, class, or method may be made available
073 * for third-party use, and the APIs that it exposes should be
074 * considered stable. Incompatible changes may only be introduced
075 * between major versions, and even then such changes should be
076 * considered very rare and will require strong justification and
077 * be explicitly denoted in the release notes for all releases with
078 * that major version.
079 * <BR><BR>
080 * Note that interface changes may be allowed between non-major
081 * releases if they do not impact backward compatibility.
082 */
083 COMMITTED,
084
085
086
087 /**
088 * The associated package, class, or method may be made available
089 * for third-party use, and the APIs that it exposes may be
090 * considered moderately stable. Incompatible changes may be
091 * introduced between major and/or minor versions, but only with
092 * strong justification and explicit denotation in the release notes
093 * for all subsequent releases with that major version.
094 * <BR><BR>
095 * Note that interface changes may be allowed between non-major and
096 * non-minor releases if they do not impact backward compatibility.
097 */
098 UNCOMMITTED,
099
100
101
102 /**
103 * The associated package, class, or method may be made available
104 * for third-party use, but the APIs that it exposes should not be
105 * considered stable. Incompatible changes may be introduced
106 * between major, minor, and point versions, and may also be
107 * introduced in patches or hotfixes. Any incompatible interface
108 * changes should be denoted in the release notes for all subsequent
109 * releases with that major version.
110 * <BR><BR>
111 * Note that if it is believed that a given class or interface will
112 * likely have incompatible changes in the future, then it should be
113 * declared with a stability level of {@code VOLATILE}, even if that
114 * those incompatible changes are expected to occur between major
115 * releases.
116 */
117 VOLATILE,
118
119
120
121 /**
122 * The associated package, class, or method should be considered
123 * obsolete, and no new code should be created that depends on it.
124 * The associated code may be removed in future versions without any
125 * additional prior notice.
126 */
127 OBSOLETE,
128
129
130
131 /**
132 * The associated package, class, or method should be considered
133 * part of the OpenDS private API and should not be used by
134 * third-party code. No prior notice is required for incompatible
135 * changes to code with a {@code PRIVATE} classification.
136 */
137 PRIVATE;
138 }
139