mirror of https://github.com/nodejs/node.git
100 lines
3.4 KiB
Markdown
100 lines
3.4 KiB
Markdown
# About this documentation
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<!--introduced_in=v0.10.0-->
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<!-- type=misc -->
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Welcome to the official API reference documentation for Node.js!
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Node.js is a JavaScript runtime built on the [V8 JavaScript engine][].
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## Contributing
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Report errors in this documentation in [the issue tracker][]. See
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[the contributing guide][] for directions on how to submit pull requests.
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## Stability index
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<!--type=misc-->
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Throughout the documentation are indications of a section's stability. Some APIs
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are so proven and so relied upon that they are unlikely to ever change at all.
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Others are brand new and experimental, or known to be hazardous.
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The stability indexes are as follows:
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> Stability: 0 - Deprecated. The feature may emit warnings. Backward
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> compatibility is not guaranteed.
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<!-- separator -->
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> Stability: 1 - Experimental. The feature is not subject to
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> [semantic versioning][] rules. Non-backward compatible changes or removal may
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> occur in any future release. Use of the feature is not recommended in
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> production environments.
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>
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> Experimental features are subdivided into stages:
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>
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> * 1.0 - Early development. Experimental features at this stage are unfinished
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> and subject to substantial change.
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> * 1.1 - Active development. Experimental features at this stage are nearing
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> minimum viability.
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> * 1.2 - Release candidate. Experimental features at this stage are hopefully
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> ready to become stable. No further breaking changes are anticipated but may
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> still occur in response to user feedback. We encourage user testing and
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> feedback so that we can know that this feature is ready to be marked as
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> stable.
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>
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> Experimental features leave the experimental status typically either by
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> graduating to stable, or are removed without a deprecation cycle.
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<!-- separator -->
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> Stability: 2 - Stable. Compatibility with the npm ecosystem is a high
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> priority.
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> Stability: 3 - Legacy. Although this feature is unlikely to be removed and is
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> still covered by semantic versioning guarantees, it is no longer actively
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> maintained, and other alternatives are available.
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Features are marked as legacy rather than being deprecated if their use does no
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harm, and they are widely relied upon within the npm ecosystem. Bugs found in
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legacy features are unlikely to be fixed.
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Use caution when making use of Experimental features, particularly when
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authoring libraries. Users may not be aware that experimental features are being
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used. Bugs or behavior changes may surprise users when Experimental API
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modifications occur. To avoid surprises, use of an Experimental feature may need
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a command-line flag. Experimental features may also emit a [warning][].
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## Stability overview
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<!-- STABILITY_OVERVIEW_SLOT_BEGIN -->
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<!-- STABILITY_OVERVIEW_SLOT_END -->
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## JSON output
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<!-- YAML
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added: v0.6.12
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-->
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Every `.html` document has a corresponding `.json` document. This is for IDEs
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and other utilities that consume the documentation.
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## System calls and man pages
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Node.js functions which wrap a system call will document that. The docs link
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to the corresponding man pages which describe how the system call works.
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Most Unix system calls have Windows analogues. Still, behavior differences may
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be unavoidable.
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[V8 JavaScript engine]: https://v8.dev/
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[semantic versioning]: https://semver.org/
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[the contributing guide]: https://github.com/nodejs/node/blob/HEAD/CONTRIBUTING.md
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[the issue tracker]: https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues/new
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[warning]: process.md#event-warning
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