The core services provided by Shale are packaged in a series of JAR files, so that applications not utiizing some of the optional services need not include them. For each service, the APIs in particular Java packages are intended for public use by application developers, while other packages represent the internal implementation of Shale features, and would only be accessed directly if you intend to modify Shale's standard functionality. In the tables below, the intended target audience of each package is described by one of the following terms:

• Application - Applications based on Shale may depend on APIs provided by this package. In general, such APIs will focus on avoiding backwards incompatble changes as they evolve.
• Framework - Developers who wish to extend or modify the default implementation of Shale features may depend on APIs provided by this package. Stability of APIs across releases will still be a goal, but ongoing evolution will likely lead to some incompatible changes.
• Private - This package is not intended for public use by developers, and its APIs are subject to change in later releases at any time.

In addition to the intent described above, each package is also annotated with a stability rating, which is an indication of the expected rate of future change, described by one of the following terms:

• Private - This package is not intended for public use by developers, and its APIs are subject to change in later releases at any time.
• Developing - This package is under active development, and changes (including backwards incompatible changes) are likely in future versions.
• Evolving - This package is continuing to be developed, but changes will generally add new features only, while maintaing backwards compatibility.
• Stable - This package may continue to be developed, but offers the highest possible assurance of backwards compatibility in both public API and in functionality.
• Deprecated - This package contains API that was available in previous versions, and is maintained (for a short while) for backwards compatibility purposes. However, dependencies on these APIs should be migrated appropriately, as at some point in time the package will be subject to removal.