Create 2023-09-21-dalamud-v9-stabilization.md

news/2023-09-21-dalamud-v9-stabilization.md

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+---
+title: Dalamud API9 Release
+authors:
+  - goat
+---
+
+Hey everyone,
+
+I'm happy to announce that we are publishing the final list of new features and breaking changes
+for Dalamud API9, scheduled to be released together with Patch 6.5 in early october.
+
+This release features a lot of behind-the-scenes changes that make Dalamud more stable, and
+hopefully give us the chance to improve our APIs further in the future.
+
+Please [check the full list of changes here](https://dalamud.dev/versions/v9/).
+
+### Services are now interfaces
+One major change that you will encounter is that all of the services you've already been using are now
+accessed via interfaces, and not directly via the implementing type.
+<br>
+We decided to go this route, as it gives us the opportunity to slowly switch all services over to plugin-specific services - which know what
+resources are allocated to what plugin, and allows us to track and dispose of them in case something goes wrong -
+and can enhance some Dalamud features, like the command list or logging APIs, with reliable context about what
+plugin is using them.
+
+It can also open the door to improving automated testing, and making it easier for us to improve APIs and functionality gradually.
+
+To migrate, you most likely only have to **prefix the names** of all of the services you're using with I. That's it!
+
+### A note about ImGui
+I want to encourage everyone to have a look at the wonderful new ImRaii APIs we introduced into the main Dalamud assembly via `Dalamud.Interface.Utility`!
+<br>
+They make it a lot easier to prevent crashes your plugin may cause due to e.g. unhandled exceptions, and are just all-around
+more convenient to use, in my opinion. You also will never again forget to pop a color, or that children always need to be ended.
+<br>
+There also are some other convenience APIs, for example, to interact with tables.
+
+Another thing you might want to look into, if you aren't already, is the Dalamud WindowSystem - if you use it to create your ImGui
+windows, they automatically gain a lot of nice UX features, such as integration into the game-native closing order via escape or controller,
+and UI sounds. Your users will appreciate it, I'm sure!
+
+### Testing your plugins
+We decided to not open up a v9 branch on the plugin repository this time around. In the past, this has led to a lot of confusion and
+messy testing periods, as we tended to end up with published versions of plugins on the new API level before the release of the
+patch we were targeting, which did not end up being stable on that version of the game.
+
+We, of course, encourage you to already start adjusting your plugin to the new APIs locally and in your development branches, to have
+them ready to go when the patch hits! 
+To do this, just use the Dalamud branch switcher(`/xlbranch`) to switch to the v9 branch.
+
+### Feedback
+If you have any concerns about the changes we've made, or find that something is not working correctly, please reach out to us via
+[GitHub issues](https://github.com/goatcorp/Dalamud/issues/new) or the [#dalamud-dev](https://discord.com/channels/581875019861328007/860813266468732938)
+channel on our Discord server.
+
+Thanks for sticking around, and have a great autumn!
+<br>
+~goat