# Make the fdb.api\_version(nnn) specification optional **URL:** \ **Category:** Using FoundationDB\ **Created:** [April 25, 2018, 10:17pm UTC](https://forums.foundationdb.org/t/make-the-fdb-api-version-nnn-specification-optional/271 "2018-04-25T22:17:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dicklacara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8797f3/32.png) [@dicklacara](https://forums.foundationdb.org/u/dicklacara)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2018, 10:17pm UTC](https://forums.foundationdb.org/t/make-the-fdb-api-version-nnn-specification-optional/271/1 "2018-04-25T22:17:56Z")
Don’t know if this is the right place for this… Doesn’t it make more sense to make setting the fdb.api\_version optional by allowing fdb to default to the version of fdb installed? That way, those users who need to set to a prior version could do so if needed by including the specification. ---
**Author:** ![dave](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/foundationdb/user_avatar/forums.foundationdb.org/dave/32/89_2.png) [@dave](https://forums.foundationdb.org/u/dave)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2018, 10:42pm UTC](https://forums.foundationdb.org/t/make-the-fdb-api-version-nnn-specification-optional/271/2 "2018-04-25T22:42:02Z")
After you have upgraded FoundationDB, and had some behavior change you didn’t read the changelog about interact with your code to totally corrupt your data, it’s a little late to add the version declaration to your code. That one extra line of code is a small price to pay for backward compatibility. ---
**Author:** ![dicklacara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8797f3/32.png) [@dicklacara](https://forums.foundationdb.org/u/dicklacara)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2018, 11:16pm UTC](https://forums.foundationdb.org/t/make-the-fdb-api-version-nnn-specification-optional/271/3 "2018-04-25T23:16:06Z")
That sounds like experience talking… well said!