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Showing posts from February, 2014

A way to evaluate an Android open source library

This last year, I have had opportunity to learn many things about open source libraries. Working on my small library (thanks to everybody for the support and help!) I could see some aspects on the other side. Before using a library, you should check some points. License It is a very focal point! The first thing to look at is the what license the code has been released. Open source doesn't mean that you can use the code in any context. There are various types of licenses and you should check if the license is compatible with your project otherwise you can have legal issues. Maintenance Check the last commits in the repository. If the last commit was 1 year ago likely the project has been abandoned (or it is complete and doesn't require updates...). Also it is very important to check how often the project is updated (or was updated). Do not underestimate this point. If you use a library which is no longer maintained, you could have problems in the future. Branch