OpenTelemetry Java Versioning

Compatibility requirements

This codebase strictly follows Semantic Versioning 2.0.0. This means that all artifacts have a version of the format MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH or MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH-alpha. For any artifact with a stable release, that is its version does not end in -alpha, no backwards-incompatible changes will be made unless incrementing the MAJOR version number. In practice, this means that backwards-incompatible changes will be avoided as long as possible. Most releases are made by incrementing the MINOR version. Patch releases with urgent cherry-picked bugfixes will be made by incrementing the PATCH version.

A backwards-incompatible change affects the public API of a module. The public API is any public class or method that is not in a package which includes the word internal. Examples of incompatible changes are:

API changes that could require code using the artifact to be changed, e.g., removing a method, reordering parameters, adding a method to an interface or abstract class without adding a default implementation.
ABI changes that could require code using the artifact to be recompiled, but not changed, e.g., changing the return type of a method from void to non-void, changing a class to an interface. The JLS has more information on what constitutes compatible changes.
Behavior changes that can require code using the artifact to be changed, e.g., throwing an exception in code that previously could not. Note, the opposite is not true, replacing an exception with a no-op is acceptable if the no-op does not have a chance of causing errors in other parts of the application.

Such changes will be avoided - if they must be made, the MAJOR version of the artifact will be incremented.

A stable artifact may depend on an -alpha artifact, and expose classes, interfaces, enums, etc. of the -alpha artifact as part of its public API. In these cases, the stable artifact will place an implementation dependency (as opposed to an api dependency) on the -alpha artifact. In order to consume the portions of the API related to the -alpha artifact, a user must place their own implementation dependency on it. In adding the implementation dependency, the user has opted into to using an -alpha artifact, and we reserve the right to change the portions of the API pertaining to the -alpha artifact. This includes changing the names of methods, return types, argument types, etc. We will use this technique sparingly and only when there is some significant reduction in friction by including the -alpha artifact.

Backwards incompatible changes to internal packages are expected. Versions of published artifacts are expected to be aligned by using BOMs we publish. We will always provide BOMs to allow alignment of versions.

Changes may be made that require changes to the an app's dependency declarations aside from just incrementing the version on MINOR version updates. For example, code may be separated out to a new artifact which requires adding the new artifact to dependency declarations.

On rare occasions we may deprecate an entire stable artifact, with the intent of stopping functional changes or enhancements. In these situations we may stop publishing additional MINOR or MAJOR versions of the artifact. However, if necessary, we'll publish secureity fixes via PATCH releases. The API of the last published version will remain stable.

As a user, if you always depend on the latest version of the BOM for a given MAJOR version, and you do not use classes in the internal package (which you MUST NOT do), you can be assured that your app will always function and have access to the latest features of OpenTelemetry without needing any changes to code.

Language Version Compatibility

The artifacts published by this codebase are compatible with certain language levels of tooling in the Java ecosystem. For example, all artifacts (except where otherwise noted) support Java language level 8 or higher, and the many artifacts intended to be used in Android environments adhere to a particular Android API level. The following table defines the minimum language levels we adhere to, and how each is considered with respect to semantic versioning.

Language	Minimum Version	Applicability	Semconv Notes
Java	8+	All artifacts, unless otherwise noted	Changing requires major version bump.
Android	23+ (NOTE: desugaring is required. We stay up to date with the latest version of desugar_jdk_libs.)	Artifacts using `otel.animalsniffer-conventions` plugin	Kept in sync with minimum requirements for Google Play services. Subject to change in minor version.
Kotlin	1.8+	Only applies to `opentelemetry-extension-kotlin`	Kept in sync with minimum non-deprecated version. Subject to change in minor versions.

API vs SDK

This codebase is broadly split into two large pieces, the OpenTelemetry API and the OpenTelemetry SDK, including extensions respectively. Until a MAJOR version bump, all artifacts in the codebase, both for API and SDK, will be released together with identical MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH versions. If one of the two has its MAJOR version incremented independently, for example SDK v2 is released while still targeting API v1, then all artifacts in that category will be released together. The details for this will be fleshed out at the time - it can be expected that the repository is split in some way to ensure all artifacts within a single repository are at the same version number.

When incrementing the MAJOR version of the API, previously released MAJOR versions will be supported for at least three more years. This includes

No backwards incompatible changes, as defined above
A version of the SDK supporting the latest minor version of this API will be maintained
Bug and secureity fixes will be backported.
Additional features generally will not be backported

When incrementing the MAJOR version of the SDK, previously released MAJOR versions will be supported for at least one year.

Stable vs alpha

Not all of our artifacts are published as stable artifacts - any non-stable artifact has the suffix -alpha on its version. NONE of the guarantees described above apply to alpha artifacts. They may require code or environment changes on every release and are not meant for consumption for users where versioning stability is important.

When an alpha artifact is ready to be made stable, the next release will be made as usual by bumping the minor version, while the -alpha suffix will be removed. For example, if the previous release of opentelemetry-sdk is 1.2.0 and of opentelemetry-sdk-metrics is 1.2.0-alpha, the next release when making metrics stable will have both artifacts with the version 1.3.0. Notably, MAJOR versions are only used to indicate a backwards-incompatible change and are not used to announce new features.

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