Explore semantic versioning
One of the predominant ways of versioning is the use of semantic versioning.
It isn't a standard but does offer a consistent way of expressing the intent and semantics of a particular version.
It describes a version for its backward compatibility with previous versions.
Semantic versioning uses a three-part version number and an extra label.
The version has the form of Major.Minor.Patch corresponds to the three types of changes covered in the previous section.
Examples of versions using the semantic versioning scheme are 1.0.0 and 3.7.129. These versions don't have any labels.
For prerelease versions, it's customary to use a label after the regular version number.
A label is a textual suffix separated by a hyphen from the rest of the version number.
The label itself can be any text describing the nature of the prerelease.
Examples of these are rc1, beta27, and alpha, forming version numbers like 1.0.0-rc1 is a prerelease for the upcoming 1.0.0 version.
Prereleases are a common way to prepare for the release of the label-less version of the package.
Early adopters can take a dependency on a prerelease version to build using the new package.
Generally, using a prerelease version of packages and their components for released software isn't a good idea.
It's good to expect the impact of the new components by creating a separate branch in the codebase and using the prerelease version of the package.
Chances are that there will be incompatible changes from a prerelease to the final version.
See also Semantic Versioning 2.0.0.