diff -r 5ff1fc726848 -r c6bca38c1cbf parts/django/docs/internals/release-process.txt --- /dev/null Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000 +++ b/parts/django/docs/internals/release-process.txt Sat Jan 08 11:20:57 2011 +0530 @@ -0,0 +1,205 @@ +======================== +Django's release process +======================== + +.. _official-releases: + +Official releases +================= + +Django's release numbering works as follows: + + * Versions are numbered in the form ``A.B`` or ``A.B.C``. + + * ``A`` is the *major version* number, which is only incremented for major + changes to Django, and these changes are not necessarily + backwards-compatible. That is, code you wrote for Django 6.0 may break + when we release Django 7.0. + + * ``B`` is the *minor version* number, which is incremented for large yet + backwards compatible changes. Code written for Django 6.4 will continue + to work under Django 6.5. + + * ``C`` is the *micro version* number which, is incremented for bug and + security fixes. A new micro-release will always be 100% + backwards-compatible with the previous micro-release. + + * In some cases, we'll make alpha, beta, or release candidate releases. + These are of the form ``A.B alpha/beta/rc N``, which means the ``Nth`` + alpha/beta/release candidate of version ``A.B``. + +An exception to this version numbering scheme is the pre-1.0 Django code. +There's no guarantee of backwards-compatibility until the 1.0 release. + +In Subversion, each Django release will be tagged under ``tags/releases``. If +it's necessary to release a bug fix release or a security release that doesn't +come from the trunk, we'll copy that tag to ``branches/releases`` to make the +bug fix release. + +Major releases +-------------- + +Major releases (1.0, 2.0, etc.) will happen very infrequently (think "years", +not "months"), and will probably represent major, sweeping changes to Django. + +Minor releases +-------------- + +Minor release (1.1, 1.2, etc.) will happen roughly every nine months -- see +`release process`_, below for details. + +.. _internal-release-deprecation-policy: + +These releases will contain new features, improvements to existing features, and +such. A minor release may deprecate certain features from previous releases. If a +feature in version ``A.B`` is deprecated, it will continue to work in version +``A.B+1``. In version ``A.B+2``, use of the feature will raise a +``DeprecationWarning`` but will continue to work. Version ``A.B+3`` will +remove the feature entirely. + +So, for example, if we decided to remove a function that existed in Django 1.0: + + * Django 1.1 will contain a backwards-compatible replica of the function + which will raise a ``PendingDeprecationWarning``. This warning is silent + by default; you need to explicitly turn on display of these warnings. + + * Django 1.2 will contain the backwards-compatible replica, but the warning + will be promoted to a full-fledged ``DeprecationWarning``. This warning is + *loud* by default, and will likely be quite annoying. + + * Django 1.3 will remove the feature outright. + +Micro releases +-------------- + +Micro releases (1.0.1, 1.0.2, 1.1.1, etc.) will be issued at least once half-way +between minor releases, and probably more often as needed. + +These releases will always be 100% compatible with the associated minor release +-- the answer to "should I upgrade to the latest micro release?" will always be +"yes." + +Each minor release of Django will have a "release maintainer" appointed. This +person will be responsible for making sure that bug fixes are applied to both +trunk and the maintained micro-release branch. This person will also work with +the release manager to decide when to release the micro releases. + +Supported versions +================== + +At any moment in time, Django's developer team will support a set of releases to +varying levels: + + * The current development trunk will get new features and bug fixes + requiring major refactoring. + + * All bug fixes applied to the trunk will also be applied to the last + minor release, to be released as the next micro release. + + * Security fixes will be applied to the current trunk and the previous two + minor releases. + +As a concrete example, consider a moment in time halfway between the release of +Django 1.3 and 1.4. At this point in time: + + * Features will be added to development trunk, to be released as Django 1.4. + + * Bug fixes will be applied to a ``1.3.X`` branch, and released as 1.3.1, + 1.3.2, etc. + + * Security releases will be applied to trunk, a ``1.3.X`` branch and a + ``1.2.X`` branch. Security fixes will trigger the release of ``1.3.1``, + ``1.2.1``, etc. + +.. _release-process: + +Release process +=============== + +Django uses a time-based release schedule, with minor (i.e. 1.1, 1.2, etc.) +releases every nine months, or more, depending on features. + +After each previous release (and after a suitable cooling-off period of a week +or two), the core development team will examine the landscape and announce a +timeline for the next release. Most releases will be scheduled in the 6-9 month +range, but if we have bigger features to development we might schedule a longer +period to allow for more ambitious work. + +Release cycle +------------- + +Each release cycle will be split into three periods, each lasting roughly +one-third of the cycle: + +Phase one: feature proposal +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +The first phase of the release process will be devoted to figuring out what +features to include in the next version. This should include a good deal of +preliminary work on those features -- working code trumps grand design. + +At the end of part one, the core developers will propose a feature list for the +upcoming release. This will be broken into: + +* "Must-have": critical features that will delay the release if not finished +* "Maybe" features: that will be pushed to the next release if not finished +* "Not going to happen": features explicitly deferred to a later release. + +Anything that hasn't got at least some work done by the end of the first third +isn't eligible for the next release; a design alone isn't sufficient. + +Phase two: development +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +The second third of the release schedule is the "heads-down" working period. +Using the roadmap produced at the end of phase one, we'll all work very hard to +get everything on it done. + +Longer release schedules will likely spend more than a third of the time in this +phase. + +At the end of phase two, any unfinished "maybe" features will be postponed until +the next release. Though it shouldn't happen, any "must-have" features will +extend phase two, and thus postpone the final release. + +Phase two will culminate with an alpha release. + +Phase three: bugfixes +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +The last third of a release is spent fixing bugs -- no new features will be +accepted during this time. We'll release a beta release about halfway through, +and an rc complete with string freeze two weeks before the end of the schedule. + +Bug-fix releases +---------------- + +After a minor release (i.e 1.1), the previous release will go into bug-fix mode. + +A branch will be created of the form ``branches/releases/1.0.X`` to track +bug-fixes to the previous release. When possible, bugs fixed on trunk must +*also* be fixed on the bug-fix branch; this means that commits need to cleanly +separate bug fixes from feature additions. The developer who commits a fix to +trunk will be responsible for also applying the fix to the current bug-fix +branch. Each bug-fix branch will have a maintainer who will work with the +committers to keep them honest on backporting bug fixes. + +How this all fits together +-------------------------- + +Let's look at a hypothetical example for how this all first together. Imagine, +if you will, a point about halfway between 1.1 and 1.2. At this point, +development will be happening in a bunch of places: + + * On trunk, development towards 1.2 proceeds with small additions, bugs + fixes, etc. being checked in daily. + + * On the branch "branches/releases/1.1.X", bug fixes found in the 1.1 + release are checked in as needed. At some point, this branch will be + released as "1.1.1", "1.1.2", etc. + + * On the branch "branches/releases/1.0.X", security fixes are made if + needed and released as "1.0.2", "1.0.3", etc. + + * On feature branches, development of major features is done. These + branches will be merged into trunk before the end of phase two.