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You can't make breaking changes to a public API, for starters. Needing to maintain/version APIs you want to deprecate has a nonzero cost.
by BHSPitMonkey 9y ago
You can't make breaking changes to a public API, for starters. Needing to maintain/version APIs you want to deprecate has a nonzero cost.
- Spivak 9y agoWhy not? The real cost would be documenting it, but a lot of devs would be willing to accept essentially being on a mailing list for breaking changes a few weeks in advance. It's not like Starbucks can roll out breaking changes to their own API instantly. It would only really be used by enthusiasts and techies who are used to this sort of thing.
- TeMPOraL 9y agoOf course you can. All you have to do is to say: "this is our internal API, we're releasing endpoint documentation for curious developers, but be warned, that the API may, and will, change without any notice". I.e. when you're releasing something in the open, you don't have to take social responsibilities if you don't want to. It's not a binary choice between "release a fully supported product" and "don't release at all".
- noway421 9y agoThat makes me wonder, are the any commercial/consumer products that use that model?