New Release (3.10) and changes to versioning (addition of 3.exp)

[Chris Broadfoot (Google Employee)]

Hi all,

We recently released a new minor version of the Google Maps API. This means that the versions are now:
3.10: Experimental
3.9: Release
3.8: Frozen

3.7 has been removed: if you request it you will receive 3.8.

Changes to versioning
Previously, if you requested the API without the v parameter, or using v=3, you would receive the experimental version. From today, you will now receive the release version.

If your application requires features in the experimental version, just specify the version (e.g. v=3.10). Note that this will freeze your application to 3.10 (unless there is a newer “frozen” version).

If you don’t currently request a specific version and you’d like to continue living on the bleeding edge, request the API with v=3.exp. This will always return the latest experimental version.

Reference documentation
The link to reference documentation now also defaults to the release version. If you’re working with the experimental version, please view the documentation here:
https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/javascript/3.exp/reference

Production applications
We previously recommended production applications specify a minor version (e.g. 3.5, 3.6). As the release version is now the default, this advice does not strictly necessary. 

If your application relies on new functionality in an experimental version, it’s still best practice to specify a minor version (such as v=3.10). You should avoid using v=3.exp in sensitive production applications.

Help and resources
Please post all technical questions over on Stack Overflow:
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/ask?tags=google-maps-api-3,google-maps

Please continue to post bugs to the issue tracker:
http://code.google.com/p/gmaps-api-issues

To see more information about versioning of the Maps API, see documentation:
https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/javascript/basics#Versioning

The full changelog for the Maps API can be found here:
http://code.google.com/p/gmaps-api-issues/wiki/JavascriptMapsAPIv3Changelog

Thanks,
Chris

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