Compatibility and VersioningΒΆ

The NVPL Sparse APIs are intended to be backward compatible at the source level with future releases (unless stated otherwise in the release notes of a specific future release). In other words, if a program uses NVPL Sparse, it should continue to compile and work correctly with newer versions of NVPL Sparse without source code changes. NVPL Sparse is not guaranteed to be backward compatible at the binary level. Using different versions of the nvpl_sparse.h header file and shared library is not supported.

The library uses the standard version semantic convention for identify different releases.

The version takes the form of four fields joined by periods: MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH.BUILD

These version fields are incremented based on the following rules:

  • MAJOR: API breaking changes

  • MINOR: new APIs and functionalities

  • PATCH: Bug fixes or performance improvements

  • BUILD: Internal build number

* Different NVPL toolkit releases ensure distinct library versions even if there are no changes at library level.