Reader small image

You're reading from  In-Memory Analytics with Apache Arrow

Product typeBook
Published inJun 2022
PublisherPackt
ISBN-139781801071031
Edition1st Edition
Concepts
Right arrow
Author (1)
Matthew Topol
Matthew Topol
author image
Matthew Topol

Matthew Topol is an Apache Arrow contributor and a principal software architect at FactSet Research Systems, Inc. Since joining FactSet in 2009, Matt has worked in both infrastructure and application development, led development teams, and architected large-scale distributed systems for processing analytics on financial data. In his spare time, Matt likes to bash his head against a keyboard, develop and run delightfully demented games of fantasy for his victims—er—friends, and share his knowledge with anyone interested enough to listen.
Read more about Matthew Topol

Right arrow

Arrow format versioning and stability

In order to ensure confidence that updating the version of the Arrow library in use won't break applications and the long-term stability of the Arrow project, there are two versions used to describe each release of the project: The format version and the library version. Different library implementations and releases can have different versions, but will always be implementing a specific format version. From version 1.0.0 onward, semantic versioning is used with releases.

Provided the major version of the format is the same between two libraries, any new library is backward-compatible with any older library with regards to being able to read data and metadata produced by an older library. Increases in the minor version of the format, such as an increase from version 1.0.0 to version 1.1.0, indicate new features that were added. As long as these new features are not used (such as new logical types or physical layouts), older libraries will be able to read data and metadata produced by newer versions of the libraries.

As far as the long-term stability of the format and libraries, only increases in the major version of the format would indicate any issue with the previous guarantees about compatibility. The Arrow project says that they do not expect this to be a frequent occurrence, rather it would be an exceptional event, in which case such a release would exercise caution for deployment. As a result of these compatibility guarantees, it ends up being safe and simple to ensure backward and forward compatibility when using the Arrow libraries and format.

Previous PageNext Page
You have been reading a chapter from
In-Memory Analytics with Apache Arrow
Published in: Jun 2022Publisher: PacktISBN-13: 9781801071031
Register for a free Packt account to unlock a world of extra content!
A free Packt account unlocks extra newsletters, articles, discounted offers, and much more. Start advancing your knowledge today.
undefined
Unlock this book and the full library FREE for 7 days
Get unlimited access to 7000+ expert-authored eBooks and videos courses covering every tech area you can think of
Renews at $15.99/month. Cancel anytime

Author (1)

author image
Matthew Topol

Matthew Topol is an Apache Arrow contributor and a principal software architect at FactSet Research Systems, Inc. Since joining FactSet in 2009, Matt has worked in both infrastructure and application development, led development teams, and architected large-scale distributed systems for processing analytics on financial data. In his spare time, Matt likes to bash his head against a keyboard, develop and run delightfully demented games of fantasy for his victims—er—friends, and share his knowledge with anyone interested enough to listen.
Read more about Matthew Topol