> developers should be able to identify at a glance which version is
breaking, and which is not

You sure have a lot of faith in the developers.  I would never trust any
version numbering scheme.  When I need a new feature or a bug-fix I test
the latest version.  I don't even pay attention to version numbers.  I
can't imagine making any of my decisions based on version numbers.

On Thu, Sep 20, 2012 at 5:00 PM, Austin William Wright <
[email protected]> wrote:

> For production applications, having tests and maintaining dependencies is
> a good idea.  However I explained this isn't a replacement for the major
> version number:
>
> (1) Not everyone is writing production applications. My own ~0 application
> in production moves too fast for tests to be meaningful.
>
> (2) You should not require people to use trial and error to figure out
> which release is compatible when updating dependencies, developers should
> be able to identify at a glance which version is breaking, and which is
> not, so we know which version to update to (I use Git submodules for this
> task).
>
>
> On Thursday, September 20, 2012 4:51:40 PM UTC-7, Chris Corbyn wrote:
>
>> I'll apply my same thinking under Rails/rubygems/bundler to node/npm. I
>> don't ever look at version numbers of gems I use, or NPM modules now that
>> I've started doing some node too. I install them, version control them and
>> write tests. If my app works with the dependencies at the versions I
>> installed, I don't need to care if the gem/npm module developer then starts
>> hacking and making breaking changes in the main repo. My versions are
>> frozen, until I decide to try updating them. When I update my dependencies,
>> I run my tests. If the tests explode, I have two choices: 1. figure out
>> what I need to change to get back up and running, or 2. lock the dependency
>> to a version I know happens to work.
>>
>> I do tend to look at how responsive the developer is to issues/pull
>> requests and how long it's been since the last commit, but that's more
>> because I don't want to use an abandoned project.
>>
>> I don't really see how ongoing development of a dependency in your
>> application is likely to cause any issues, provided you actually freeze
>> versions. In Rails Gemfile.lock ensures new developer joining the team have
>> all the same versions. In Node, installing the modules locally works fine
>> too. And make sure you have good test coverage.
>>
>>
>> Il giorno 21/set/2012, alle ore 09:17, Michael Schoonmaker ha scritto:
>>
>> I don't disagree with you insofar as using something that *looks like *semver
>> without *being *semver can be confusing.
>>
>> However, what I do disagree with is the attitude that we should change 
>> *common
>> practice* because there is a similar-looking *standard*. Does that make
>> sense? It's one thing to be confusing. It's something else entirely that
>> *the ship has sailed*, and there are plenty of people on the deck having
>> a great time.
>>
>> I'm relatively new to Node (on the order of almost a year instead of
>> several), but I understand what npm version numbers entail, and I
>> understand that it's *my *package.json that describes what version of
>> each dependency I use. Just as two applications may use different
>> versioning schemes altogether, so two package developers may interpret
>> https://npmjs.org/doc/json.**html#version<https://npmjs.org/doc/json.html#version>differently.
>>  Therefore, it's
>> *my *responsibility to:
>>
>>    1. Understand how my dependencies define versions.
>>    2. Lock versions down for production.
>>    3. Upgrade explicitly and with cause.
>>    4. Update my package.json accordingly.
>>
>> Schoon
>>
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