Neither of these are particularly human friendly.
On Nov 8, 2011 4:56 PM, "Daurnimator" <
quae@daurnimator.com> wrote:
On 8 November 2011 16:27, David Manura <dm.lua@math2.org> wrote:
> I propose the following scheme for the _VERSION [1] variable in modules:
>
> dotnum ::= [0-9] [0-9] [0-9]
> version ::= dotnum { '.' dotnum }
>
> Examples of valid versions include '001', '001.234', and '012.001.001.001'.
>
> Properties of scheme include
>
> - Versions can be compared by simple string comparison (no special parsing).
> - Versions can contain an arbitrary number of dotted numbers
> (though typically 2 - 4).
> - By using strings, it is not subject to numerical rounding, like storing
> versions in floating point numbers, and it even works when Lua is compiled
> with an integer number type.
> - Dotted numbers are unlikely ever to wrap around (exceed 999). In the rare
> case you do get to '001.999', then either do '001.999.001' or '002.000'.
> If you get to '999.999.999.999' (which is only of theoretical concern)
> then either rename your project (starting at version zero again)
> or use '999.999.999.999.001'.
> - Hopefully keeping things simple this way avoids the path of Perl [2].
> - Version numbers remain relatively readable and also sort nicely.
> - The project name is *not* included in _VERSION
> (e.g. unlike _VERSION = "Copas 1.1.7").
>
> Some optionally allowed variants might include
>
> - It's not required to stick with three digits per dotted number,
> except for the
> first one. Say you have a pre-1.0 release that versions only with the
> date stamp. You could use '000.2011.11.07' as long as you follow this
> date scheme when the first dotted number is '000'. When you
> increment the first dotted number to '001', you may follow a different
> scheme like '001.000'. Simple string comparisons must still work:
> '001.000.000' > '000.2011.11.07'.
> - It's not required to only allow numbers.
> 1.0beta2 might be expressed like '000.999.b2'. String comparisons still
> work. For example, '001.000' > '000.999.b2' > '000.999.a3'.
>
> [1] http://lua-users.org/wiki/ModuleVersioning
> [2] http://www.dagolden.com/index.php/369/version-numbers-should-be-boring/
> [3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dot-decimal_notation
>
>
I think a system where everything is a number would be much better:
- They can be used directly in comparisons without any forethought
- They can be almost arbitrarily large (as long as it fits in a double)
They don't need any regulations; as they are a native lua type - to
check if a module conforms you can just use type(mod._VERSION) ==
"number"
