hello, As discussed on the mailing list thread [1], Micah Kornfield has proposed a version scheme for the project to take effect starting with the 1.0.0 release. See document [2] containing a discussion of the issues involved.
To summarize my understanding of the plan: 1. TWO VERSIONS: As of 1.0.0, we establish separate FORMAT and LIBRARY versions. Currently there is only a single version number. 2. SEMANTIC VERSIONING: We follow https://semver.org/ with regards to communicating library API changes. Given the project's pace of evolution, most releases are likely to be MAJOR releases according to SemVer principles. 3. RELEASES: Releases of the project will be named according to the LIBRARY version. A major release may or may not change the FORMAT version. When a LIBRARY version has been released for a new FORMAT version, the latter is considered to be released and official. 4. Each LIBRARY version will have a corresponding FORMAT version. For example, LIBRARY versions 2.0.0 and 3.0.0 may track FORMAT version 1.0.0. The idea is that FORMAT version will change less often than LIBRARY version. 5. BACKWARD COMPATIBILITY GUARANTEE: A newer versioned client library will be able to read any data and metadata produced by an older client library. 6. FORWARD COMPATIBILITY GUARANTEE: An older client library must be able to either read data generated from a new client library or detect that it cannot properly read the data. 7. FORMAT MINOR VERSIONS: An increase in the minor version of the FORMAT version, such as 1.0.0 to 1.1.0, indicates that 1.1.0 contains new features not available in 1.0.0. So long as these features are not used (such as a new logical data type), forward compatibility is preserved. 8. FORMAT MAJOR VERSIONS: A change in the FORMAT major version indicates a disruption to these compatibility guarantees in some way. Hopefully we don't have to do this many times in our respective lifetimes If I've misrepresented some aspect of the proposal it's fine to discuss more and we can start a new votes. Please vote to approve this proposal. I'd like to keep this vote open for 7 days (until Friday August 2) to allow for ample opportunities for the community to have a look. [ ] +1 Adopt these version conventions and compatibility guarantees as of Apache Arrow 1.0.0 [ ] +0 [ ] -1 I disagree because... Here is my vote: +1 Thanks Wes [1]: https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/5715a4d402c835d22d929a8069c5c0cf232077a660ee98639d544af8@%3Cdev.arrow.apache.org%3E [2]: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uBitWu57rDu85tNHn0NwstAbrlYqor9dPFg_7QaE-nc/edit#
