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In OpenLayers 4 changelogs, it explains:

Unlike the switch from v2.x to v3.x, which marked a complete rewrite of the library with an entirely new API, major version increments now simply mean that users should pay attention to the 'Breaking changes' section of the upgrade notes.

But "semanting versioning" says:

MAJOR version increases when you make incompatible API changes

So, I don't understand: if the OL API is not changed, why OL major version did it increase to 4 ? Can someone explain better?

nmtoken
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TonyGis
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  • Actually I think that is a perfectly focussed, and very useful, question. The change from OL 2 to 3 was quite traumatic, and this question is asking for clarity on whether 3 to 4 is API changing/breaking or not. – John Powell Nov 02 '17 at 10:28

1 Answers1

4

When OpenLayers increases the major version, it is because of API changes. So pay attention to the "Breaking changes" section in the release notes to learn about the API changes when you encounter a major version bump.

However, like the release notes of the major version bump from 3 to 4 show, the API only changes slightly. So applications do not need to be rewritten.

ahocevar
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