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| 1 | +This library (com.android.location.provider.jar) is a shared java library |
| 2 | +containing classes required by unbundled location providers. |
| 3 | + |
| 4 | +--- Rules of this library --- |
| 5 | +o This library is effectively a PUBLIC API for unbundled location providers |
| 6 | + that may be distributed outside the system image. So it MUST BE API STABLE. |
| 7 | + You can add but not remove. The rules are the same as for the |
| 8 | + public platform SDK API. |
| 9 | +o This library can see and instantiate internal platform classes (such as |
| 10 | + ProviderRequest.java), but it must not expose them in any public method |
| 11 | + (or by extending them via inheritance). This would break clients of the |
| 12 | + library because they cannot see the internal platform classes. |
| 13 | + |
| 14 | +This library is distributed in the system image, and loaded as |
| 15 | +a shared library. So you can change the implementation, but not |
| 16 | +the interface. In this way it is like framework.jar. |
| 17 | + |
| 18 | +--- Why does this library exists? --- |
| 19 | + |
| 20 | +Unbundled location providers (such as the NetworkLocationProvider) |
| 21 | +can not use internal platform classes. |
| 22 | + |
| 23 | +So ideally all of these classes would be part of the public platform SDK API, |
| 24 | +but that doesn't seem like a great idea when only applications with a special |
| 25 | +signature can implement this API. |
| 26 | + |
| 27 | +The compromise is this library. |
| 28 | + |
| 29 | +It wraps internal platform classes (like ProviderRequest) with a stable |
| 30 | +API that does not leak the internal classes. |
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