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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<document>
<properties>
<title>Clirr</title>
<author>Lars Khne</author>
<meta name="keyword" content="java, api, diff, compare, jar, binary, compatibility, compatible, detect, incompatibility, incompatible"/>
</properties>
<body>
<section name="What is it?">
<p>
Clirr is a tool that checks Java libraries for binary and source compatibility
with older releases. Basically you give it two
sets of jar files and Clirr dumps out a list of changes in the public api.
The Clirr Ant task can be configured to break the build if it detects
incompatible api changes. In a continuous integration process Clirr can
automatically prevent accidental introduction of binary or source compatibility
problems.
</p>
</section>
<section name="Background">
<p>
To learn more about binary compatibility of Java APIs the follwing articles
provide some detailed background material:
<ul>
<li>
the article
<a href="http://eclipse.org/eclipse/development/java-api-evolution.html">Evolving
Java-based APIs</a> on the Eclipse web site.
</li>
<li>
the
<a href="http://java.sun.com/docs/books/jls/second_edition/html/binaryComp.doc.html">Binary Compatibility</a>
section in the Java Language specification.
</li>
</ul>
</p>
</section>
<section name="Features">
<ul>
<li>Report all API changes (currently only partially implemented)</li>
<li>Evaluate each change wrt. binary and source compatibility</li>
<li>support plain text and XML reports</li>
<li>Flexible failure handling (warnings vs. errors, break the build or set error property)</li>
</ul>
</section>
<section name="Name">
<p>
The name clirr is derived from the binary compatibility property
that a new release of a library/component should have (cited from
the above mentioned Eclipse article):
</p>
<p>
Pre-existing
<em>C</em>lient binaries must
<em>li</em>nk and
<em>r</em>un with new
<em>r</em>eleases of the Component without recompiling.
</p>
<p>
You can also use clirr as a verb, as in
<cite>Last night the build clirred</cite>,
meaning that binary incompatibility problems were detected and broke the build.
</p>
</section>
</body>
</document>
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