Version Numbering

All Bioconductor packages should have a version number like x.y.z. Here are examples of good version numbers:

1.2.3
0.0.1
0.4.5
2.3.0

The Meaning of x

Packages in the devel repository with version numbers matching 0.y.z are assumed to be too young for release and will not be included in any releases. The exception to this rule is the special version number 0.99.z which we reserve for packages which will become 1.0.0 when bumped into the release.

Even Odd Schedule

Given a package with version number x.y.z,

• In devel, y should be an odd number.
• In release, y should be an even number. At the beginning of the release, z should be zero.
• As part of the release, packages that will become the new devel line will have their y incremented yet again to get back to an odd number.
• If a package has not changed in devel, the version number will not be bumped in the release.

The Bioconductor team will bump y as part of the release process.

Example Changes

Here is a table showing examples of the version bumping scheme:

Release	Devel	Just before release	Next release	Next devel
--	0.99.0	0.99.3	1.0.0	1.1.0
1.4.0	1.5.0	1.5.4	1.6.0	1.7.0
1.4.0	1.5.0	1.5.1	1.6.0	1.7.0
1.4.0	1.5.0	1.5.0	1.4.0 (no changes)	1.5.0
1.4.0	1.5.0	1.99.3	2.0.0	2.1.0
1.8.0	1.9.0	1.9.1	1.10.0	1.11.0

Historical Note

The even/odd scheme was introduced as part of the BioC 1.7 release. For this release, all packages going into the release had their y digit incremented to the next largest even number. Then in devel, all packages had y incremented again so that all packages begin the 1.8 release cycle with an odd y digit and z equal to zero.