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Code Smell 303 - How to Prevent Breaking Existing Clients When You Make Changes
- Breaking APIs without warning can lead to client application crashes, integration failures, and broken trust, among other problems.
- Solutions include semantic versioning, backward compatibility, deprecation warnings, clear documentation, and thorough testing.
- Proper versioning ensures smooth transitions and reliability for API consumers.
- Detecting API changes without proper versioning can be semi-automatic and involve monitoring client failures after releases.
- Maintaining a stable mapping between API contracts and client expectations is crucial to prevent system failures and lost trust.
- AI generators can introduce this issue if not instructed to maintain backward compatibility and implement versioning strategies.
- Always version APIs to prevent breaking changes, build trust with consumers, and enable smooth system evolution.
- Breaking API contracts can lead to defects, downtime, and a poor user experience.
- It is essential to deprecate features carefully and communicate changes proactively to avoid disruptions.
- You should always version APIs to prevent client application impacts, building trust and enabling smooth system evolution.
- API changes without versioning can result in cascading failures across dependent systems, causing frustration and costly fixes for users.
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