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Updated API stability document for 1.0. 

git-svn-id: http://code.djangoproject.com/svn/django/trunk@8866 bcc190cf-cafb-0310-a4f2-bffc1f526a37
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Jacob Kaplan-Moss 2008-09-02 18:45:33 +00:00
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docs/internals/contributing.txt
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@ -935,6 +935,8 @@ file. Then copy the branch's version of the ``django`` directory into
.. _path file: http://docs.python.org/lib/module-site.html
.. _official-releases:
Official releases
=================

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docs/misc/api-stability.txt
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@ -4,27 +4,31 @@
API stability
=============
Although Django has not reached a 1.0 release, the bulk of Django's public APIs are
stable as of the 0.95 release. This document explains which APIs will and will not
change before the 1.0 release.
:ref:`The release of Django 1.0 <releases-1.0>` comes with a promise of API
stability and forwards-compatibility. In a nutshell, this means that code you
develop against Django 1.0 will continue to work against 1.1 unchanged, and you
should need to make only minor changes for any 1.X release.
What "stable" means
===================
In this context, stable means:
- All the public APIs -- everything documented in the linked documents, and
all methods that don't begin with an underscore -- will not be moved or
- All the public APIs -- everything documented in the linked documents below,
and all methods that don't begin with an underscore -- will not be moved or
renamed without providing backwards-compatible aliases.
- If new features are added to these APIs -- which is quite possible --
they will not break or change the meaning of existing methods. In other
words, "stable" does not (necessarily) mean "complete."
- If, for some reason, an API declared stable must be removed or replaced, it
will be declared deprecated but will remain in the API until at least
version 1.1. Warnings will be issued when the deprecated method is
called.
will be declared deprecated but will remain in the API for at least two
minor version releases. Warnings will be issued when the deprecated method
is called.
See :ref:`official-releases` for more details on how Django's version
numbering scheme works, and how features will be deprecated.
- We'll only break backwards compatibility of these APIs if a bug or
security hole makes it completely unavoidable.
@ -32,64 +36,114 @@ In this context, stable means:
Stable APIs
===========
These APIs are stable:
In general, everything covered in the documentation -- with the exception of
anything in the :ref:`internals area <internals-index>` is considered stable as
of 1.0. This includes these APIs:
- :ref:`Caching <topics-cache>`.
- :ref:`Custom template tags and libraries <howto-custom-template-tags>`.
- :ref:`Database lookup <topics-db-queries>` (with the exception of validation; see below).
- :ref:`Authorization <topics-auth>`
- :ref:`Caching <topics-cache>`.
- :ref:`django-admin utility <ref-django-admin>`.
- :ref:`FastCGI and mod_python integration <howto-deployment-index>`.
- :ref:`Flatpages <ref-contrib-flatpages>`.
- :ref:`Generic views <topics-http-generic-views>`.
- :ref:`Internationalization <topics-i18n>`.
- :ref:`Legacy database integration <howto-legacy-databases>`.
- :ref:`Model definition <topics-db-models>` (with the exception of generic relations; see below).
- :ref:`Model definition, managers, querying and transactions
<topics-db-index>`
- :ref:`Sending e-mail <topics-email>`.
- :ref:`File handling and storage <topics-files>`
- :ref:`Forms <topics-forms-index>`
- :ref:`HTTP request/response handling <topics-http-index>`, including file
uploads, middleware, sessions, URL resolution, view, and shortcut APIs.
- :ref:`Generic views <topics-http-generic-views>`.
- :ref:`Internationalization <topics-i18n>`.
- :ref:`Pagination <topics-pagination>`
- :ref:`Serialization <topics-serialization>`
- :ref:`Signals <topics-signals>`
- :ref:`Templates <topics-templates>`, including the language, Python-level
:ref:`template APIs <ref-templates-index>`, and :ref:`custom template tags
and libraries <howto-custom-template-tags>`.
- :ref:`Redirects <ref-contrib-redirects>`.
- :ref:`Request/response objects <ref-request-response>`.
- :ref:`Sending e-mail <topics-email>`.
- :ref:`Sessions <topics-http-sessions>`.
- :ref:`Settings <topics-settings>`.
- :ref:`Syndication <ref-contrib-syndication>`.
- :ref:`Template language <topics-templates>` (with the exception of some
possible disambiguation of how tag arguments are passed to tags and
filters).
- :ref:`Transactions <topics-db-transactions>`.
- :ref:`URL dispatch <topics-http-urls>`.
You'll notice that this list comprises the bulk of Django's APIs. That's right
-- most of the changes planned between now and Django 1.0 are either under the
hood, feature additions, or changes to a few select bits. A good estimate is
that 90% of Django can be considered forwards-compatible at this point.
- :ref:`Testing <topics-testing>`
That said, these APIs should *not* be considered stable, and are likely to
change:
- :ref:`django-admin utility <ref-django-admin>`.
- :ref:`Built-in middleware <ref-middleware>`
- :ref:`Request/response objects <ref-request-response>`.
- :ref:`Settings <ref-settings>`. Note, though that while the :ref:`list of
built-in settings <ref-settings>` can be considered complete we may -- and
probably will -- add new settings in future versions. This is one of those
places where "'stable' does not mean 'complete.'"
- :ref:`Built-in signals <ref-signals>`. Like settings, we'll probably add
new signals in the future, but the existing ones won't break.
- :ref:`Unicode handling <ref-unicode>`.
- Everything covered by the :ref:`HOWTO guides <howto-index>`.
``django.utils``
----------------
- :ref:`Serialization <topics-serialization>` is under development; changes
are possible.
Most of the modules in ``django.utils`` are designed for internal use. Only the following parts of ``django.utils`` can be considered stable:
- Generic relations will most likely be moved out of core and into the
content-types contrib package to avoid core dependencies on optional
components.
**New in development version**: this has now been done.
- ``django.utils.cache``
- ``django.utils.datastructures.SortedDict`` -- only this single class; the
rest of the module is for internal use.
- ``django.utils.encoding``
- ``django.utils.feedgenerator``
- ``django.utils.safestring``
- ``django.utils.tzinfo``
- ``django.utils.encoding``
Exceptions
==========
There are a few exceptions to this stability and backwards-compatibility
promise.
Security fixes
--------------
If we become aware of a security problem -- hopefully by someone following our
:ref:`security reporting policy <reporting-security-issues>` -- we'll do
everything necessary to fix it. This might mean breaking backwards compatibility; security trumps the compatibility guarantee.
Contributed applications (``django.contrib``)
---------------------------------------------
While we'll make every effort to keep these APIs stable -- and have no plans to
break any contrib apps -- this is an area that will have more flux between
releases. As the web evolves, Django must evolve with it.
However, any changes to contrib apps will come with an important guarantee:
we'll make sure it's always possible to use an older version of a contrib app if
we need to make changes. Thus, if Django 1.5 ships with a backwards-incompatible
``django.contrib.flatpages``, we'll make sure you can still use the Django 1.4
version alongside Django 1.5. This will continue to allow for easy upgrades.
Historically, apps in ``django.contrib`` have been more stable than the core, so
in practice we probably won't have to ever make this exception. However, it's
worth noting if you're building apps that depend on ``django.contrib``.
APIs marked as internal
-----------------------
Certain APIs are explicitly marked as "internal" in a couple of ways:
- Some documentation refers to internals and mentions them as such. If the
documentation says that something is internal, we reserve the right to
change it.
- Functions, methods, and other objects prefixed by a leading underscore
(``_``). This is the standard Python way of indicating that something is
private; if any method starts with a single ``_``, it's an internal API.
- The comments framework, which is yet undocumented, will get a complete
rewrite before Django 1.0.

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docs/releases/1.0.txt
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@ -6,8 +6,18 @@ Django 1.0 release notes
Welcome to Django 1.0!
Stability and forwards-compatibility
====================================
:ref:`The release of Django 1.0 <releases-1.0>` comes with a promise of API
stability and forwards-compatibility. In a nutshell, this means that code you
develop against Django 1.0 will continue to work against 1.1 unchanged, and you
should need to make only minor changes for any 1.X release.
See the :ref:`API stability guide <misc-api-stability>` for full details.
Porting guide
-------------
=============
You can find detailed instructions on porting apps from Django 0.96 to Django
1.0 in our porting guide: