Updates on gRPC C# (Grpc.Core) support [October 2023]
Jan Tattermusch
Hello gRPC C# Users!
In May 2022 we extended the maintenance of Grpc.Core, updating the original announcement from 2021. We have yet another update for you today - while we still plan to deprecate Grpc.Core in the future, we decided that 2023 is not the right time to do it.
Here are the main reasons for delaying the Grpc.Core deprecation beyond the originally planned date of May 2023:
Grpc.Net.Client does work on the legacy .NET Framework, but it requires a recent-enough version of Windows. The rollout of the necessary patches to Windows (specifically to their WinHttpHandler component) has been slower than anticipated, so some windows versions where Grpc.Net.Client over WinHttpHandler doesn't work (e.g. Windows 10 and Windows Server 2019) are supported by Microsoft and are still relatively widely used.
We received feedback that Grpc.Core is very useful when migrating systems from .NET Framework to the more modern .NET 6+, so keeping Grpc.Core available for a little longer would make it easier for users to move towards platforms where grpc-dotnet is better supported.
Google API client libraries still use Grpc.Core when running on some legacy systems (namely on .NET Framework)
As a result, we are delaying Grpc.Core deprecation until further notice, but at least 1 year from now (i.e. until at least October 2024). Until then, Grpc.Core will remain to be supported in the "maintenance mode":
The team will limit any interventions regarding Grpc.Core to a bare minimum. This is to decrease maintenance costs and reduce the risk of breaking something. This means we will only make critical and security fixes for Grpc.Core going forward.
Grpc.Core is expected to stay at current maintenance branch (v1.46.x on the grpc/grpc repository) as long as that's technically feasible
The actual deprecation date for Grpc.Core is currently unknown and will be provided via an update in the future (consider Grpc.Core as in maintenance mode until then). The deprecation date is likely going to be aligned with end of support of one of the legacy platforms (e.g. Windows 10 goes EOL), but this is something that will be determined later, based on technical circumstances.
Note that as soon as Grpc.Net.Client on .NET Framework works on a given platform, we will consider that as the platform being sufficiently well supported to not require Grpc.Core. Note that this means that after the Grpc.Core deprecation happens, there can be legacy platforms where only the gRPC client will be supported (and not the gRPC server).
Feel free to reply to this announcement with follow up questions and requests for clarification. For major issues connected to the migration/deprecation plan, you can file an issue on github as usual.
On behalf of the gRPC team,
Jan
Jan Tattermusch
Software Engineer
Google Germany GmbH
Erika-Mann-Straße 33
80636 München
Geschäftsführer: Paul Manicle, Liana Sebastian
Registergericht und -nummer: Hamburg, HRB 86891
Sitz der Gesellschaft: Hamburg
Diese E-Mail ist vertraulich. Falls sie diese fälschlicherweise erhalten haben sollten, leiten Sie diese bitte nicht an jemand anderes weiter, löschen Sie alle Kopien und Anhänge davon und lassen Sie mich bitte wissen, dass die E-Mail an die falsche Person gesendet wurde.
This e-mail is confidential. If you received this communication by mistake, please don't forward it to anyone else, please erase all copies and attachments, and please let me know that it has gone to the wrong person.