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# Shared Libraries

## Why share?

The purpose of creating shared libraries is to:

* Increase development speed across projects where language and design patterns reoccur.
* Provide thorough testing for commonly reused code paths.
* Share optimisations where language and design patterns reoccur.

## Working with shared libraries

When adding functionality to existing libraries we:

* Add documentation as appropriate. See <https://docs.scala-lang.org/style/scaladoc.html>
* Release documentation should carry examples of API changes where they occur.
* Code reviews for shared libraries require approval from 2 developers one of whom is from a different project team.


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