PEAR Group - Administrative Documents
» Version Naming
Published: 26th Februray 2004
The PEAR Group would like to take this opportunity to define the following version naming convention, which will be mandatory for all packages from now on. All developers should attempt to move to this new version naming scheme as soon as possible.
Vote Results: +1 (6), -1 (0), +0 (2)
» Current Versioning Method
The current status quo is that version names should follow the progression defined by the version_compare() function.
» New Versioning Method
Note that the version number is not the same as the version name. The version name is the final name of a version which consists of the version number and an optional suffix. See the following for details.
To determine the version name of a release use the following rule set:
- A version number must include a major, a minor and a patch level version number. Please note that all are version numbers are mandatory.
- A package version has a "state" (as indicated in the package.xml file), which describes the maturity. The state may be one of "dev", "alpha", "beta", "RC" or "stable" (listed in the order of code maturity). Please note that the state "RC" is achieved by using the state "beta" and appending the version number with "RC" followed by an integer
- A backwards-compatability break may include feature additions
- A feature addition may include bug fixes
- The version name is always computed on the version name of the release, on which the new release is based, if one exists.
- The version number must be greater or equal than 0.1.0
- All initial releases of a package with states "dev", "alpha", or "beta" prior to the first stable release should have a version number less than "1.0.0".
- The first release with state "RC" or "stable" must have a version number of "1.0.0".
- There may not be a stable release unless there has been at least one release before with the same major version.
- BC may only be broken in releases that have a version number of "x.0.0" with a state lower than stable or that have a version number below "1.0.0". As a converse only releases that break BC or that have a version number of "1.0.0" may increase the major version number compared to the previous release.
- Features may only be added in releases that have a version number of "x.y.0" (where "y > 0"). As a converse the minor version may only be increased in releases that add features.
- For releases that only fix bugs the version number should be "x.y.z" (where "z > 0") unless the maturity state is increased. As a converse the patch level number should only be used (as in non zero) in releases that only fix bugs.
- The state should always be added as a suffix unless the state is "stable" (please note that as stated above the state "beta" is used for beta releases and for release candidates). The suffix consists of the state followed by a number which is incremented with every subsequent release with the same state.
- In the lifecycle of a package each major version increase it is only once (once from major version number 0 to 1, from 1 to 2 etc.).
Example: Lifecycle of a package
| Release type | Changes | Version | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| development release | initial release | 0.1.0dev1 | initial version |
| development release | features added | 0.2.0dev1 | BC break allowed |
| alpha release | features added | 0.9.0alpha1 | BC break allowed - but discouraged |
| beta release | bug fixes | 0.9.0beta1 | BC break allowed - but discouraged |
| beta release | bug fixes | 0.9.0beta2 | BC break allowed - but discouraged |
| RC release | bug fixes | 1.0.0RC1 | BC break allowed - but heavily discouraged |
| stable release | no changes | 1.0.0 | BC break is not allowed |
| stable release | bug fixes | 1.0.1 | BC break is not allowed |
| development release | features added | 1.1.0dev1 | BC break is not allowed |
| beta release | bug fixes | 1.1.0beta1 | BC break is not allowed |
| stable release | bug fixes | 1.1.0 | BC break is not allowed |
| stable release | features added | 1.2.0 | BC break is not allowed |
| development release | major changes | 2.0.0dev1 | BC break is allowed |
| alpha release | major changes | 2.0.0alpha1 | BC break is allowed - but discouraged |
| beta release | bug fixes | 2.0.0beta1 | BC break is allowed - but discouraged |
| RC release | features added | 2.0.0RC1 | BC break is allowed - but heavily discouraged |
| RC release | bug fixes | 2.0.0RC2 | BC break is allowed - but heavily discouraged |
| stable release | bug fixes | 2.0.0 | BC break is not allowed |
| stable release | bug fixes | 2.0.1 | BC break is not allowed |
Automation
It should be possible to turn this rule set into a little tool which can compute the next version for you based on questions you answer (like is this the first release, did this release break BC?, what state should this release have etc.)
This should make it possible to generate correct version numbers without going through this rather lengthy list.
A sample implementation can be found at http://www.backendmedia.com/PEAR/version_generator.phps.
Please note that this implementation currently does not enforce the usage of the patch level version number and still uses the state "RC" instead of "beta" for release candidates.
Future versions of the PEAR packager will hopefully include functionality validate the version name based on relevant metadata set in the package.xml and by comparing the package API with prior versions.
Back