Re: [wildfly-dev] About API and leakage

Guys, when developing an API that is going to be shipped either as part of WildFly as a module or for end-user consumption, I want you to remember something: Every public and protected member of that module *IS* API. That means you can't ever change it without considering compatibility. "Well I just made it public because this other module needs access to it" is not a valid excuse, nor is "Well I needed access from another package". Both are synonyms for "I screwed up my design at an early stage and now I want to break the rules to fix my mistake". The only exception is if you're developing a component specifically and exclusively for use in the modular environment, and you put all non-API public members into a specific package or package set which is then excluded from export in the module.xml descriptor in the shipped environment.

If you do not fall into this exception then you are volunteering to personally maintain these non-public public classes for the next 10 years come hell or high water, because people are surely going to use them, and I sure don't want to be the one to maintain them.