An API version bump still needs a migration path

In Go Time’s API-design discussion, Jamie Tanna and the hosts examine the work hidden behind a major version bump. A new version communicates change, but consumers still need to migrate. They discuss compatibility layers, automated rewrite recipes and the maintenance cost of supporting old behavior. The disagreement is useful: naming a version and making upgrades manageable solve different parts of the problem.

Go Time · Changelog · Aug 8, 2024

Why it matters

API design includes the cost imposed on existing consumers, not only the new interface.

More context

This older episode is 74 minutes; the reviewed transcript segment around 29–43 minutes covers compatibility and migration tooling. Start there for the engineering tradeoffs rather than treating the entire conversation as reviewed.

Keep in mind

These are practitioner viewpoints, including disagreement about versioning, rather than a universal migration policy.

Transcript read