Groups | Search | Server Info | Keyboard shortcuts | Login | Register [http] [https] [nntp] [nntps]

Groups > comp.lang.python > #76531

Re: Why Python 4.0 won't be like Python 3.0

Show key headers only | View raw

On Tue, Aug 19, 2014 at 10:05 AM, Steven D'Aprano
<steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> wrote:
> I consider versions to be *strings*. They include non-numeric components
> such as "a", "b", "rc", so they aren't numbers. They're certainly not
> floating point numbers, since they have a variable number of decimal
> points. Although there is at least one unofficial standard for interpreting
> version numbers (semantic versioning), the most popular by far is "whatever
> I mean by it today" and the only reasonable interpretation of an arbitrary
> software package's version "number" is as free-form text.
>
> Given two version numbers for the same arbitrary package, X and Y, just
> about the only thing you can be sure of is that if X < Y, Y is *probably*
> newer.

Let's say "version identifiers". The point of schemes like semver.org
is to make it possible to define the "X < Y" inequality between two
such identifiers. (There are similar schemes, such as that used by
Debian's package management. They're often broadly compatible.)

> Or Java 5, 6, 7, 8.
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java_version_history

Are they major versions, or 1.5, 1.6, 1.7, 1.8? Or both?

> Or Firefox.
>
> https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/956361
>
> (I believe that Firefox is now up to version 31, with version 32 due at
> 3:00pm and 33 due at 5:30pm.)

So true.

> And not a Mac user either, I imagine, since Mac OS introduces major backward
> incompatible changes to point releases. Mac OS version X tends to prefer
> version *names* rather than numbers:
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_OS_X
>
> which Debian-based Linux distros also tend to follow.

With Debian distros, there is a version number as well as the name -
Wheezy (current stable) is Debian 7, currently showing 7.5, and the
previous version (Squeeze) is Debian 6. This more-or-less follows the
standard concept of major versions, as it's at the point of a new
release that breaking changes will be made.

There's a broad expectation in a lot of communities that the basic
"major.minor.rev" scheme will be followed. It's definitely not
universal, but it's the most popular convention by far (unless you
count "version numbers don't mean anything" as a convention).

ChrisA

Back to comp.lang.python | Previous | Next — Previous in thread | Next in thread | Find similar | Unroll thread

Thread

Why Python 4.0 won't be like Python 3.0 Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2014-08-17 13:37 +0100
  Re: Why Python 4.0 won't be like Python 3.0 Grant Edwards <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2014-08-18 14:51 +0000
    Re: Why Python 4.0 won't be like Python 3.0 Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-08-19 01:03 +1000
    Re: Why Python 4.0 won't be like Python 3.0 "ElChino" <elchino@cnn.cn> - 2014-08-18 19:00 +0200
      Re: Why Python 4.0 won't be like Python 3.0 Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2014-08-18 10:15 -0700
      Re: Why Python 4.0 won't be like Python 3.0 Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-08-19 09:46 +1000
    Re: Why Python 4.0 won't be like Python 3.0 Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2014-08-18 10:14 -0700
      Re: Why Python 4.0 won't be like Python 3.0 Grant Edwards <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2014-08-18 21:09 +0000
        Re: Why Python 4.0 won't be like Python 3.0 Emile van Sebille <emile@fenx.com> - 2014-08-18 14:45 -0700
        Re: Why Python 4.0 won't be like Python 3.0 Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-08-19 10:25 +1000
          Re: Why Python 4.0 won't be like Python 3.0 Grant Edwards <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2014-08-19 14:27 +0000
            Re: Why Python 4.0 won't be like Python 3.0 Skip Montanaro <skip@pobox.com> - 2014-08-19 09:37 -0500
              Re: Why Python 4.0 won't be like Python 3.0 Grant Edwards <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2014-08-19 14:51 +0000
              Re: Why Python 4.0 won't be like Python 3.0 Johann Hibschman <jhibschman@gmail.com> - 2014-08-19 10:56 -0400
            Re: Why Python 4.0 won't be like Python 3.0 Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-08-20 03:44 +1000
    Re: Why Python 4.0 won't be like Python 3.0 Ben Finney <ben+python@benfinney.id.au> - 2014-08-19 08:27 +1000
      Re: Why Python 4.0 won't be like Python 3.0 Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-08-19 11:00 +1000
    Re: Why Python 4.0 won't be like Python 3.0 Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-08-19 10:05 +1000
      Re: Why Python 4.0 won't be like Python 3.0 Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-08-19 10:30 +1000
    Re: Why Python 4.0 won't be like Python 3.0 Tim Delaney <timothy.c.delaney@gmail.com> - 2014-08-19 10:47 +1000
  Re: Why Python 4.0 won't be like Python 3.0 wxjmfauth@gmail.com - 2014-08-19 12:04 -0700

csiph-web