Versions support policy

What is a version?

Ogma versions follow a variation of Semantic Versioning. As a reminder, versions numbers are formatted as [major].[minor].[patch] (e.g. 3.1.6).

For example, Ogma 4.3.5 is a patch version that is part of the Ogma 4.3 minor version, which is itself part of the Ogma 4 major version.

Guidelines

• Patch versions do not introduce breaking API changes, or new features. They fix bugs and usability issues. They may introduce small improvements and new optional API options.
• Minor versions do not introduce breaking API changes
• The last minor version of a major version is supported for 6 months after the next major version is released.
• Bugs are only fixed in the latest minor of a major version.

Definitions

• Breaking API change: a change that affects the API and forces customers to rewrite Ogma API calls (e.g. change the name of a method, make a new parameter mandatory).
• Supported version: a version of Ogma for which major and critical bugs will be fixed.

Release frequency

Major versions are released at most once per year.

Minor versions are released approximately four times a year for the current major version.

Patch versions are released approximately twice a month, or more frequently if required to fix critical bugs.

Implications

• When parts of the API are deprecated, they are only removed in the next major version;
• You can safely bump the patch or minor version without having to rewrite existing code;
• When bumping the major version, you might need to rewrite some existing code;
• When a major version comes out, you have 6 months to migrate from the previous major version before it becomes unsupported;
• When a bug is found in a major version, you may have to update to the latest minor version of that major version to get a bug fix.