| # Abseil in gRPC |
| |
| This document explains how to use Abseil throughout gRPC. Note that this isn't |
| supposed to explain general usage of Abseil. |
| |
| ## The version of Abseil |
| |
| gRPC intends to use the LTS versions of Abseil only because it simplifies |
| dependency management. Abseil is being distributed via package distribution |
| systems such as vcpkg and cocoapods. If gRPC depends on the certain version |
| that aren't registered, gRPC in that system cannot get the right version of |
| Abseil when being built, resulting in a build failure. |
| Therefore, gRPC will use the LTS version only, preferably the latest one. |
| |
| ## Libraries that are not ready to use |
| |
| Most of Abseil libraries are okay to use but there are some exceptions |
| because they're not going well yet on some of our test machinaries or |
| platforms it supports. The following is a list of targets that are NOT |
| ready to use. |
| |
| - `absl/synchronization:*`: Blocked by b/186685878. |
| - `absl/random`: [WIP](https://github.com/grpc/grpc/pull/23346). |
| |
| ## Implemetation only |
| |
| You can use Abseil in gRPC Core and gRPC C++. But you cannot use it in |
| the public interface of gRPC C++ because i) it doesn't gurantee no breaking |
| API changes like gRPC C++ does and ii) it may make users change their build |
| system to address Abseil. |
| |
