Viewing github.com/django/django-stable-4.1.x/docs/internals/release-process.txt

```
========================
```
```
Django's release process
```
```
========================
```
```
.. _official-releases:
```
```
Official releases
```
```
=================
```

Since version 1.0, Django's release numbering works as follows:

* Versions are numbered in the form ``A.B`` or ``A.B.C``.

* ``A.B`` is the *feature release* version number. Each version will be mostly

  backwards compatible with the previous release. Exceptions to this rule will

```
  be listed in the release notes.
```

* ``C`` is the *patch release* version number, which is incremented for bugfix

  and security releases. These releases will be 100% backwards-compatible with

  the previous patch release. The only exception is when a security or data

  loss issue can't be fixed without breaking backwards-compatibility. If this

  happens, the release notes will provide detailed upgrade instructions.

* Before a new feature release, we'll make alpha, beta, and 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``.

In git, each Django release will have a tag indicating its version number,

signed with the Django release key. Additionally, each release series has its

own branch, called ``stable/A.B.x``, and bugfix/security releases will be

```
issued from those branches.
```

For more information about how the Django project issues new releases for

security purposes, please see :doc:`our security policies <security>`.

```
.. glossary::
```
```
  Feature release
```

    Feature releases (A.B, A.B+1, etc.) will happen roughly every eight months

    -- see `release process`_ for details. These releases will contain new

    features, improvements to existing features, and such.

```
  Patch release
```

    Patch releases (A.B.C, A.B.C+1, etc.) will be issued as needed, to fix

```
    bugs and/or security issues.
```

    These releases will be 100% compatible with the associated feature release,

    unless this is impossible for security reasons or to prevent data loss.

    So the answer to "should I upgrade to the latest patch release?" will always

```
    be "yes."
```
```
  Long-term support release
```

    Certain feature releases will be designated as long-term support (LTS)

    releases. These releases will get security and data loss fixes applied for

    a guaranteed period of time, typically three years.

    See `the download page`_ for the releases that have been designated for

```
    long-term support.
```

    .. _the download page: https://www.djangoproject.com/download/

```
.. _internal-release-cadence:
```
```
Release cadence
```
```
===============
```

Starting with Django 2.0, version numbers will use a loose form of `semantic

versioning <https://semver.org/>`_ such that each version following an LTS will

bump to the next "dot zero" version. For example: 2.0, 2.1, 2.2 (LTS), 3.0,

```
3.1, 3.2 (LTS), etc.
```

SemVer makes it easier to see at a glance how compatible releases are with each

other. It also helps to anticipate when compatibility shims will be removed.

It's not a pure form of SemVer as each feature release will continue to have a

few documented backwards incompatibilities where a deprecation path isn't

possible or not worth the cost. Also, deprecations started in an LTS release

(X.2) will be dropped in a non-dot-zero release (Y.1) to accommodate our policy

of keeping deprecation shims for at least two feature releases. Read on to the

```
next section for an example.
```

.. _internal-release-deprecation-policy:

```
Deprecation policy
```
```
==================
```

A feature release may deprecate certain features from previous releases. If a

feature is deprecated in feature release A.x, it will continue to work in all

A.x versions (for all versions of x) but raise warnings. Deprecated features

will be removed in the B.0 release, or B.1 for features deprecated in the last

A.x feature release to ensure deprecations are done over at least 2 feature

```
releases.
```

So, for example, if we decided to start the deprecation of a function in

```
Django 4.2:
```

* Django 4.2 will contain a backwards-compatible replica of the function which

  will raise a ``RemovedInDjango51Warning``.

* Django 5.0 (the version that follows 4.2) will still contain the

```
  backwards-compatible replica.
```

* Django 5.1 will remove the feature outright.

The warnings are silent by default. You can turn on display of these warnings

```
with the ``python -Wd`` option.
```
```
A more generic example:
```
```
* X.0
```
```
* X.1
```
```
* X.2 LTS
```

* Y.0: Drop deprecation shims added in X.0 and X.1.

* Y.1: Drop deprecation shims added in X.2.

* Y.2 LTS: No deprecation shims dropped (while Y.0 is no longer supported,

  third-party apps need to maintain compatibility back to X.2 LTS to ease

```
  LTS to LTS upgrades).
```

* Z.0: Drop deprecation shims added in Y.0 and Y.1.

See also the :ref:`deprecating-a-feature` guide.

```
.. _supported-versions-policy:
```
```
Supported versions
```
```
==================
```

At any moment in time, Django's developer team will support a set of releases to

varying levels. See `the supported versions section

<https://www.djangoproject.com/download/#supported-versions>`_ of the download

page for the current state of support for each version.

* The current development branch ``main`` will get new features and bug fixes

```
  requiring non-trivial refactoring.
```

* Patches applied to the main branch must also be applied to the last feature

  release branch, to be released in the next patch release of that feature

  series, when they fix critical problems:

```
  * Security issues.
```
```
  * Data loss bugs.
```
```
  * Crashing bugs.
```

  * Major functionality bugs in new features of the latest stable release.

  * Regressions from older versions of Django introduced in the current release

```
    series.
```

  The rule of thumb is that fixes will be backported to the last feature

  release for bugs that would have prevented a release in the first place

```
  (release blockers).
```

* Security fixes and data loss bugs will be applied to the current main branch,

  the last two feature release branches, and any other supported long-term

```
  support release branches.
```

* Documentation fixes generally will be more freely backported to the last

  release branch. That's because it's highly advantageous to have the docs for

  the last release be up-to-date and correct, and the risk of introducing

  regressions is much less of a concern.

As a concrete example, consider a moment in time halfway between the release of

Django 5.1 and 5.2. At this point in time:

* Features will be added to the development main branch, to be released as

```
  Django 5.2.
```

* Critical bug fixes will be applied to the ``stable/5.1.x`` branch, and

```
  released as 5.1.1, 5.1.2, etc.
```

* Security fixes and bug fixes for data loss issues will be applied to

  ``main`` and to the ``stable/5.1.x``, ``stable/5.0.x``, and

  ``stable/4.2.x`` (LTS) branches. They will trigger the release of ``5.1.1``,

```
  ``5.0.5``, ``4.2.8``, etc.
```

* Documentation fixes will be applied to main, and, if easily backported, to

```
  the latest stable branch, ``5.1.x``.
```
```
.. _release-process:
```
```
Release process
```
```
===============
```

Django uses a time-based release schedule, with feature releases every eight

```
months or so.
```

After each feature release, the release manager will announce a timeline for

```
the next feature release.
```
```
Release cycle
```
```
-------------
```

Each release cycle consists of three parts:

```
Phase one: feature proposal
```
```
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
```

The first phase of the release process will include figuring out what major

features to include in the next version. This should include a good deal of

preliminary work on those features -- working code trumps grand design.

Major features for an upcoming release will be added to the wiki roadmap page,

e.g. https://code.djangoproject.com/wiki/Version1.11Roadmap.

```
Phase two: development
```
```
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
```

The second part 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.
```

At the end of phase two, any unfinished features will be postponed until the

```
next release.
```

Phase two will culminate with an alpha release. At this point, the

``stable/A.B.x`` branch will be forked from ``main``.

```
Phase three: bugfixes
```
```
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
```

The last part of a release cycle is spent fixing bugs -- no new features will

be accepted during this time. We'll try to release a beta release one month

after the alpha and a release candidate one month after the beta.

The release candidate marks the string freeze, and it happens at least two

weeks before the final release. After this point, new translatable strings

```
must not be added.
```

During this phase, mergers will be more and more conservative with backports,

to avoid introducing regressions. After the release candidate, only release

blockers and documentation fixes should be backported.

In parallel to this phase, ``main`` can receive new features, to be released

```
in the ``A.B+1`` cycle.
```
```
Bug-fix releases
```
```
----------------
```

After a feature release (e.g. A.B), the previous release will go into bugfix

```
mode.
```

The branch for the previous feature release (e.g. ``stable/A.B-1.x``) will

include bugfixes. Critical bugs fixed on main must *also* be fixed on the

bugfix branch; this means that commits need to cleanly separate bug fixes from

feature additions. The developer who commits a fix to main will be

responsible for also applying the fix to the current bugfix branch.

Everywhere:
?	Show hotkeys (this menu)
Esc	unfocus or close dialog
/	focus search bar
Code browsing:
g	go to line
Tooltips:
a	show previous entry
d	show next entry