I think that it's a matter of backward compatibility. If one module depends on 1.4-SNAPSHOT of another module we assume that version increase of the second module won't affect the first one. It would be a surprise to see multiple crashes in many modules after every increment in snapshot.
In other words, dependent modules should not know anything about version changes in the main module. — Yegor Bugayenko, PMP®, SCEA 2011/4/4 Tamás Cservenák <[email protected]> > Think branched development. > > Something that causes that versions are not released in "single thread in > increasing manner", not in same "timeline" you would expect but rather > jumping from "here" (1,x) and "there" (2.x) as teams progresses: > > 1.0 > 1.1 > 2.0 > 2.0.1 > 1.1.1 > etc. > > If you would use SNAPSHOT only (without prefixed wannabe release version > number), which -- probably CI built and deployed -- "snapshot" would you > end > up? > > What do you expect to have returned by "LATEST"? > > a) last deployed? -- it's 1.1.1 > b) "biggest version"? -- it's not always doable because of "marketing > versions" used (think -alpha, -RC, -RC-alpha, > -this-is-a-special-release-of-pre-alpha-RC-0 etc). > > > Thanks, > ~t~ > > On Mon, Apr 4, 2011 at 3:12 PM, Aaron Kaplan > <[email protected]>wrote: > > > What's the rationale behind the convention of including the next release > > number in the snapshot version identifier? That is, why do we call a > > snapshot 1.4-SNAPSHOT rather than just SNAPSHOT? > > > > When I specify a version of a dependency, there are two possibilities: if > > it's a library that I'm not in the process of modifying, I want to use a > > particular, reproducible release version; if I am currently working on > it, I > > want to use the latest snapshot. The numbered snapshot convention allows > for > > these two, but also a third possibility: if version 1.3 has been released > > and the latest snapshot is 1.4-SNAPSHOT, but my pom still has a > dependency > > on 1.3-SNAPSHOT, then I depend on neither a reproducible release version > nor > > the latest snapshot, but something very arbitrary: the last snapshot that > > got compiled before the 1.3 release. Is that ever useful? In my > experience > > it only happens by accident, and it causes confusion. > > > > The special version LATEST would do more or less what I want, but as I > > understand it this functionality has been removed in maven 3. If someone > can > > point me to an explanation of the reason for that change, I'd appreciate > it. > > > > -Aaron > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] > > For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected] > > > > >
