55 lines
2.1 KiB
Markdown
55 lines
2.1 KiB
Markdown
# Electron Versioning
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If you've been using Node and npm for a while, you are probably aware of [Semantic Versioning], or SemVer for short. It's a convention for specifying version numbers for software that helps communicate intentions to the users of your software.
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## Overview of Semantic Versioning
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Semantic versions are always made up of three numbers:
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```
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major.minor.patch
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```
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Semantic version numbers are bumped (incremented) using the following rules:
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* **Major** is for changes that break backwards compatibility.
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* **Minor** is for new features that don't break backwards compatibility.
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* **Patch** is for bug fixes and other minor changes.
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A simple mnemonic for remembering this scheme is as follows:
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```
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breaking.feature.fix
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```
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## Electron Versioning
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Due to its dependency on Node and Chromium, it is not possible for the Electron
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project to adhere to a SemVer policy. **You should therefore always
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reference a specific version of Electron.**
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Electron version numbers are bumped using the following rules:
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* **Major** is for breaking changes in Electron's API. If you upgrade from `0.37.0`
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to `1.0.0`, you will have to make changes to your app.
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* **Minor** is for major Chrome and minor Node upgrades, or significant Electron
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changes. If you upgrade from `1.5.0` to `1.6.0`, your app is supposed to
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still work, but you might have to work around small changes.
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* **Patch** is for new features and bug fixes. If you upgrade from `1.6.2` to
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`1.6.3`, your app will continue to work as-is.
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We recommend that you set a fixed version when installing Electron from npm:
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```sh
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npm install electron --save-exact --save-dev
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```
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The `--save-exact` flag will add `electron` to your `package.json` file without
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using a `^` or `~`, e.g. `1.6.2` instead of `^1.6.2`. This practice ensures that
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all upgrades of Electron are a manual operation made by you, the developer.
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Alternatively, you can use the `~` prefix in your SemVer range, like `~1.6.2`.
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This will lock your major and minor version, but allow new patch versions to
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be installed.
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[Semantic Versioning]: http://semver.org
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