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JFYI: (re-)start of this discussion was instigated by merge of this change
<https://review.openstack.org/#/c/232021/> (and here is revert
<https://review.openstack.org/#/c/238030/>).

And this is actually not the first time when we make backward incompatible
changes in our API. AFAIR, the last time it was also about the network
configuration handler. We decided not to consider our API frozen, make the
changes and break backward compatibility. So now is the time to reconsider
this.

API backward compatibility is a must for good software, but we also need to
understand that introducing API versioning is not that easy and will
increase efforts needed to make new changes in nailgun.

I'd go this way:

   - Estimate the priority of introducing API versioning - maybe we have
   other things we should invest our resources to
   - Estimate all the disadvantages this decision might have
   - Fix all the issues in the current API (like this one
   <https://bugs.launchpad.net/fuel/+bug/1496630>)
   - Implement API versioning support (yes, we don't have this mechanism
   yet, so we can't just "bump API version" like Sergii suggested in another
   thread)
   - Consider the current API as frozen v1, so backward incompatible
   changes (or maybe all the changes?) should go to v2


2015-10-21 20:25 GMT+07:00 Roman Prykhodchenko <me at romcheg.me>:

> Hi folks,
>
> I’d like to touch the aspect of Fuel development process that seems to be
> as wrong as possible. That aspect is how we change the API.
>
> The issue is that in Fuel anyone can change API at any point of time
> without even warning the rest of the same component’s team. Relying on this
> kind of API is basically impossible. We constantly have problems when even
> components of Fuel stop working due to unexpected changes in the API.
> Thinking about another software that must be integrated with Fuel is hardly
> possible with the current approach.
>
> As for a grown-up project there is a strong need for Fuel in general and
> for Nailgun in particular to work on a policy for making changes to their
> APIs. Living in OpenStack ecosystem we must at least take a look how it’s
> done in its components and try to do something similar. After working with
> Nova, Keystone, Ironic and other components I would propose to start with
> the following: let’s not make any changes to the API. Instead, let’s create
> a new version of Nailgun’s API that will appear in Fuel 8.0 and make all
> the changes there. That is the thing that will instantaneously make lives
> of other components much easier, if we make it now.
>
> After doing the essential part let’s think about how we are going to live
> with that in the future. There are several APIs in Fuel, the rest of the
> email is only touching Nailgun’s REST API. I can see the things somehow
> like the following:
>
>  - Introduce API documentation by embedding Swagger and Swagger UI.
>    The current approach when we leave API docs for documentation team is
> not effective. Swagger generates the documentation and resolves this issue.
>  - After releasing a version of Fuel, it’s API is called stable and frozen
> for any changes, unless they allign API to the documentation or
> documentation to the API.
>  - All changes to a stable APIs must be backported to the stable version
> of Fuel that introduced the corresponding API.
>  - In order to guarantee that a stable API is not changed, Jenkins jobs
> should make automatic checks for every new patch set
>
> Details about all the above mentioned proposals can be discussed in
> separate threads so this one will stay uncluttered. I'd like to also summon
> those OpenStack folks, who tried to resolve the same issue and ask them
> about any common solutions in the ecosystem.
>
>
> - romcheg
>
>
>
>
>
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>


-- 
Vitaly Kramskikh,
Fuel UI Tech Lead,
Mirantis, Inc.
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