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doc: update experimental status to reflect use
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* Update the experimental status to reflect actual common use.
* Also make a few formatting fixes.

Fixes: #12701

PR-URL: #12723
Fixes: #12701
Reviewed-By: Refael Ackermann <refack@gmail.com>
Reviewed-By: Anna Henningsen <anna@addaleax.net>
Reviewed-By: Colin Ihrig <cjihrig@gmail.com>
Reviewed-By: Michael Dawson <michael_dawson@ca.ibm.com>
Reviewed-By: Myles Borins <myles.borins@gmail.com>
Reviewed-By: Sakthipriyan Vairamani <thechargingvolcano@gmail.com>
Reviewed-By: Daijiro Wachi <daijiro.wachi@gmail.com>
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jasnell authored and MylesBorins committed Sep 5, 2017
1 parent 987332a commit c013c54
Showing 1 changed file with 22 additions and 10 deletions.
32 changes: 22 additions & 10 deletions doc/api/documentation.md
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -3,20 +3,20 @@
<!-- type=misc -->

The goal of this documentation is to comprehensively explain the Node.js
API, both from a reference as well as a conceptual point of view. Each
API, both from a reference as well as a conceptual point of view. Each
section describes a built-in module or high-level concept.

Where appropriate, property types, method arguments, and the arguments
provided to event handlers are detailed in a list underneath the topic
heading.

Every `.html` document has a corresponding `.json` document presenting
the same information in a structured manner. This feature is
the same information in a structured manner. This feature is
experimental, and added for the benefit of IDEs and other utilities that
wish to do programmatic things with the documentation.

Every `.html` and `.json` file is generated based on the corresponding
`.md` file in the `doc/api/` folder in Node.js's source tree. The
`.md` file in the `doc/api/` folder in Node.js's source tree. The
documentation is generated using the `tools/doc/generate.js` program.
The HTML template is located at `doc/template.html`.

Expand All @@ -39,17 +39,29 @@ The stability indices are as follows:

```txt
Stability: 0 - Deprecated
This feature is known to be problematic, and changes are
planned. Do not rely on it. Use of the feature may cause warnings. Backwards
compatibility should not be expected.
This feature is known to be problematic, and changes may be planned. Do
not rely on it. Use of the feature may cause warnings to be emitted.
Backwards compatibility across major versions should not be expected.
```

```txt
Stability: 1 - Experimental
This feature is subject to change, and is gated by a command line flag.
It may change or be removed in future versions.
This feature is still under active development and subject to non-backwards
compatible changes, or even removal, in any future version. Use of the feature
is not recommended in production environments. Experimental features are not
subject to the Node.js Semantic Versioning model.
```

*Note*: Caution must be used when making use of `Experimental` features,
particularly within modules that may be used as dependencies (or dependencies
of dependencies) within a Node.js application. End users may not be aware that
experimental features are being used, and therefore may experience unexpected
failures or behavioral changes when changes occur. To help avoid such surprises,
`Experimental` features may require a command-line flag to explicitly enable
them, or may cause a process warning to be emitted. By default, such warnings
are printed to `stderr` and may be handled by attaching a listener to the
`process.on('warning')` event.

```txt
Stability: 2 - Stable
The API has proven satisfactory. Compatibility with the npm ecosystem
Expand All @@ -63,7 +75,7 @@ is a high priority, and will not be broken unless absolutely necessary.
Every HTML file in the markdown has a corresponding JSON file with the
same data.

This feature was added in Node.js v0.6.12. It is experimental.
This feature was added in Node.js v0.6.12. It is experimental.

## Syscalls and man pages

Expand All @@ -72,7 +84,7 @@ and the underlying operating system. Node functions which simply wrap a syscall,
like `fs.open()`, will document that. The docs link to the corresponding man
pages (short for manual pages) which describe how the syscalls work.

**Caveat:** some syscalls, like lchown(2), are BSD-specific. That means, for
**Note:** some syscalls, like lchown(2), are BSD-specific. That means, for
example, that `fs.lchown()` only works on macOS and other BSD-derived systems,
and is not available on Linux.

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