bug: asdf does not use semantic versioning

[pwillis-oi]

Describe the Bug

Hello,

When version numbers look like "x.y.z" these days, the assumption is that they use semantic versioning.
This then follows that if you use the same major version, there should be no breaking/non-backwards-compatible changes.

For reference: https://semver.org/

Given a version number MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH, increment the:

• MAJOR version when you make incompatible API changes
• MINOR version when you add functionality in a backward compatible manner
• PATCH version when you make backward compatible bug fixes
• Additional labels for pre-release and build metadata are available as extensions to the MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH format.

But according to the CHANGELOG, new version 0.16.0 is a complete rewrite which includes breaking/non-backwards-compatible changes.

This version number should be 1.0.0 if semantic versioning is to be followed

Steps to Reproduce

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Expected Behaviour

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Actual Behaviour

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Environment

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asdf plugins affected (if relevant)

No response

[jdx]

semver (according to your own source) doesn't apply for 0.x versions:

Major version zero (0.y.z) is for initial development. Anything MAY change at any time. The public API SHOULD NOT be considered stable.

[pwillis-oi]

My bad, I didn't realize asdf is not production ready

[Stratus3D]

As @jdx says 0.x.z is for initial development. It's somewhat common for projects to not ever release a major version and stay as major version zero for many years. Just treat the minor version as the major version (it indicates breaking changes). and the patch version as an indicator of backwards compatible changes.

Now, should we have released asdf as 1.0.0 several years? Probably, it is widely used, and generally, the interface has been pretty stable. Should we release 1.0.0 now? Probably not, given that this is a complete rewrite there will likely be new issues reported in the coming weeks.