API change: what does it mean?

* Stub for doc page on API change *

Every decent piece of software needs an API (Application Programming Interface). It sets a standard for dealing with low-level operations. It introduces stability and uniformity in code.

Compare it to opening a bank account. You go to a desk and ask the bank employee to open a bank account. She/He takes is from there, and performs the standard operations to get the desired result (a bank account on your name). These fixed procedures allow anyone to open a bank account, even if most of us don't have a clue about banking procedures.

Similarly, software requests other software to do some things for it. In order to get succesfull results your software uses a set of standarized requests (an API) that the program called upon defines.

The necessary evil in this whole story is an API change. In order to grow and innovate, software changes. So does its API.