How to deal with forward compatibility and version control in C++ class design?

The guidelines for achieving forward compatibility and versioning in C++ class design are as follows: Achieve forward compatibility through interface design isolation Use virtual inheritance Use versioning strategies such as template semantic versioning and version tags for tracking and managing classes Changes in definition and implementation.

Forward compatibility and version control in C++ class design

In software development, forward compatibility and version control Control is critical to ensuring the long-term maintainability and upgradeability of your application. In C++ class design, this can be achieved by following these guidelines:

Forward compatibility

• Isolation through interface design : Define a stable public interface, while the private implementation can be changed at any time without affecting client code.
• Use virtual inheritance: By virtual inheritance from the parent class, subclasses can override methods without breaking compatibility.
• Use templates: Template parameters allow different functions to be parameterized at compile time, thus avoiding version incompatibilities.

Version control

• Semantic versioning: Follow the semantic versioning convention (MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH), where MAJOR CHANGES represent backward-incompatible changes, MINOR changes represent backward-compatible feature additions, and PATCH changes are for bug fixes.
• Version Tagging: Version tag class definitions and implementations using a version control system (such as Git) to track changes and roll back to previous versions.
• Automated testing: Write automated tests to verify the behavior of a class in different versions and ensure that changes do not break existing functionality.

Practical case

Consider a graphics library where the Shape abstract base class defines the public interface of the shape. Now, we want to add a new shape type Circle. To ensure forward compatibility, we can use virtual inheritance:

class Circle : public virtual Shape {
  // Circle 的具体实现
};

int main() {
  // 创建一个形状数组
  Shape* shapes[] = {new Circle, ...};

  // 使用形状的公共接口对所有形状进行操作
  for (Shape* shape : shapes) {
    shape->Draw();
  }

  // 删除形状
  for (Shape* shape : shapes) {
    delete shape;
  }

  return 0;
}

For version control, we use Git and use semantic versioning:

• v1.0.0:Initial version, including Shape and Rectangle shapes.
• v1.1.0: Added Circle shape, this is a backwards compatible feature addition.
• v2.0.0: Refactored the Shape interface, resulting in backwards-incompatible changes.

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