[dpdk-dev] [PATCH] doc: move and update experimental API description

[Shreyansh Jain]

Experimental API text has been moved into a sub-section of ABI Policy.
A paragraph has been added to explain the process for removal of an
experimental tag.

Signed-off-by: Shreyansh Jain <shreyansh.jain at nxp.com>

---
note:
 The movement of text into a sub-section is relevant as the previous position
 was in middle of a continuous text explaining ABI policy - whereas,
 experimental is not truly an ABI policy.
 No change to the original text has been made, except appending a new
 paragraph. Though, this does spoil the blame/praise.

 doc/guides/contributing/versioning.rst | 54 +++++++++++++++-----------
 1 file changed, 31 insertions(+), 23 deletions(-)

diff --git a/doc/guides/contributing/versioning.rst b/doc/guides/contributing/versioning.rst
index c495294db..7127d39ee 100644
--- a/doc/guides/contributing/versioning.rst
+++ b/doc/guides/contributing/versioning.rst
@@ -43,29 +43,6 @@ ABI versions are set at the time of major release labeling, and the ABI may
 change multiple times, without warning, between the last release label and the
 HEAD label of the git tree.
 
-APIs marked as ``experimental`` are not considered part of the ABI and may
-change without warning at any time.  Since changes to APIs are most likely
-immediately after their introduction, as users begin to take advantage of
-those new APIs and start finding issues with them, new DPDK APIs will be
-automatically marked as ``experimental`` to allow for a period of stabilization
-before they become part of a tracked ABI.
-
-Note that marking an API as experimental is a multi step process.
-To mark an API as experimental, the symbols which are desired to be exported
-must be placed in an EXPERIMENTAL version block in the corresponding libraries'
-version map script.
-Secondly, the corresponding definitions of those exported functions, and
-their forward declarations (in the development header files), must be marked
-with the ``__rte_experimental`` tag (see ``rte_compat.h``).
-The DPDK build makefiles perform a check to ensure that the map file and the
-C code reflect the same list of symbols.
-This check can be circumvented by defining ``ALLOW_EXPERIMENTAL_API``
-during compilation in the corresponding library Makefile.
-
-In addition to tagging the code with ``__rte_experimental``,
-the doxygen markup must also contain the EXPERIMENTAL string,
-and the MAINTAINERS file should note the EXPERIMENTAL libraries.
-
 ABI versions, once released, are available until such time as their
 deprecation has been noted in the Release Notes for at least one major release
 cycle. For example consider the case where the ABI for DPDK 2.0 has been
@@ -119,6 +96,37 @@ readability purposes should be avoided.
    follow the relevant deprecation policy procedures as above: 3 acks and
    announcement at least one release in advance.
 
+Experimental APIs
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+APIs marked as ``experimental`` are not considered part of the ABI and may
+change without warning at any time.  Since changes to APIs are most likely
+immediately after their introduction, as users begin to take advantage of
+those new APIs and start finding issues with them, new DPDK APIs will be
+automatically marked as ``experimental`` to allow for a period of stabilization
+before they become part of a tracked ABI.
+
+Note that marking an API as experimental is a multi step process.
+To mark an API as experimental, the symbols which are desired to be exported
+must be placed in an EXPERIMENTAL version block in the corresponding libraries'
+version map script.
+Secondly, the corresponding definitions of those exported functions, and
+their forward declarations (in the development header files), must be marked
+with the ``__rte_experimental`` tag (see ``rte_compat.h``).
+The DPDK build makefiles perform a check to ensure that the map file and the
+C code reflect the same list of symbols.
+This check can be circumvented by defining ``ALLOW_EXPERIMENTAL_API``
+during compilation in the corresponding library Makefile.
+
+In addition to tagging the code with ``__rte_experimental``,
+the doxygen markup must also contain the EXPERIMENTAL string,
+and the MAINTAINERS file should note the EXPERIMENTAL libraries.
+
+For removing the experimental tag associated with an API, deprecation notice
+is not required. Though, an API should remain in experimental state for at least
+one release. Thereafter, normal process of posting patch for review to mailing
+list can be followed.
+
 Examples of Deprecation Notices
 -------------------------------
 
-- 
2.17.0