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Semantic Versioning Explanation

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Semantic Versioning Explanation.md

1.2.3-beta.1+meta

• 1: Major
• 2: Minor
• 3: Patch
• beta.1: Pre-release
• meta: Metadata

Major

The major number is incremented when the API to the package or application changes in backwards incompatible ways.

Minor

The minor number is incremented when new features are added to the API without breaking backwards compatibility. If the major number is incremented the minor number returns to 0.

Patch

The patch number is incremented when no new features are added but bug fixes are released. If the major or minor numbers are incremented this returns to 0.

Pre-release

A pre-release is a . separated list of identifiers following a -. For example, 1.2.3-beta.1. These are optional and are only needed for pre-release versions. In this case 1.2.3 would be a release version following a pre-release like 1.2.3-beta.1.

Metadata

The final section of information is build metadata. This is a . separated list of identifiers following a +. This is different from pre-release information and should be ignored when determining precedence.