Backward compatibility
From Forum Nokia Wiki
Backward compatibility means compatible with earlier versions.
Binary Compatibility
Binary compatible means that code built for an older version will run on a newer version without rebuilding.
Few examples of binary-incompatible changes:
- removing a public/protected method/member
- changing access specifiers to more restrictive
- re-ordering exported functions; new exports should be added after the old ones
- changing/adding/removing/re-ordering virtual functions
- order of data members in a class is not important, just that the sum of their size (i.e. the class size) doesn't change.
Source Compatibility
Source compatible means that the code that depends on your component can be still built without changes on a newer version of your component.
Few examples of source-incompatible changes:
- removing a public/protected method/member
- changing access specifiers to more restrictive
- changing return type of functions
- changing function arguments
- changing constness
