HeadVer Specification

It says; the 3rd public release, at around the 24th week of 2019, from build 59.

Introduction

a version specification that has {head}.{yearweek}.{build} system.

The name HeadVer stands for "only head number is enough to maintain!" because it only allows to set the first number manually, and rest numbers are automatic. It simplifies x.y.z versioning and gurantees incremental version stamping on top of various versioning scripts introduced in this repository. HeadVer versioning system is battle-tested on the 40+ app/web services.

• {head} - manual. Zero-based number.
• {yearweek} - automatic. 2-digit for year and 2-digit for week number.
• {build} - automatic. Incremental number from a build server.

Code Examples

Currently, this repository has Bash, Fastlane, and Gradle examples. You can apply it to a build server or a local machine.

• Bash: examples/bash.md
• Elixir: examples/elixir.md
• Fastlane: examples/fastlane.md
• Gradle: examples/gradle.md
• PowerShell: examples/powershell.md, examples/headver.ps1

Motivation

There are so many questions came out when we use a SemVer style.

• "Oops, we accidentally released without updating the version!"
• "Why so many products are still having 1.x.y version? Do we have any chance to increase a major up?"
• "Why update to 1.0.3 commit should be in commit history? The version number is not a logic but just a package tag."
• "User got a crash in version 1.4.3 but have no idea how old the version is. Is it outdated for months so?"
• "What was the affected version and how long did we take to get fixed?"
• "In this release, do we update a minor number or patch? We've discussed it all day long."

The HeadVer deeply thought these questions and defined some rules to cover up all of them.

Benefits

• It embraces SemVer; Semantic Versioning. HeadVer is compatible with x.y.z style and easily moves over it.
• Every number in a version has clear meaning.
• The middle {yearweek} acknowledges an age of a version.
• It only allows one manual number, the {head}, to simplify a numbering consideration and discussion.
• The build number guarantees each release distinguishable.
• It is enough to say a {build} to point out exact release binary.
• No same version releases happen even we forgot to do 'version up to x.x.x' commit.
• {yearweek} always has 4-digit long, so we have a minimum validation rule. Every version has fixed 4-digit in the middle.

Rules

1. {head}

• The first part {head} is Zero-based manually modifiable number.
• For example, if you try to adopt HeadVer to a software that has v2.1.0, it is good to start with head number 3.
• In notation, you can say v3 or v.3 for the head number 3.

2. {yearweek}

• The second part {yearweek} is a combination of 2-digit for a year and 2-digit week number. ie, 34th week in year 2021 is 2134.
• It always has 4-digit.
• A week number follows ISO-8601 week date system; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_week_date

3. {build}

• The last part {build} is an automatically incremental number, and generally a build server stamps it.
• We strongly recommend to setup a build server with auto-incremental counter system in front of any software releases.
• In notation, you can say b59 or b.59 for the build 59.

Tips

• If your team is running a weekly sprint, a middle number can be a sprint title as it raises per week. ie, 2104 can be a sprint for 4th week of 2021.
• If your team is running a bi-weekly sprint, a middle number can also be a sprint title for odd or even numbers.
• When should we update {head} number? We recommend to increase at every end-user receives a new version. ie, for each AppStore releases.
• {yearweek} can be winded back to 0001 when year 2100 comes. When year 2100 comes, update {head} or use 4-digit for a year 210001.

FAQ

1. Can we use -prerelease for a version? Yes. But practically, we recommend not to use - suffix. It is better to update {head} instead. HeadVer leads to increase {head} actively and frequently.
2. Can we use +meta for a version? Yes, it is perfectly fine.
3. Why not use {yyyyMMdd} but {yearweek}? Practically, week number precision is enough.

Validation

If you try to implement headver, {yearweek} requires special concerns as it should follow ISO8601. Please validate your implementation with below table.