DMD needs branches

[Chris Miller]

On Thu, 12 Apr 2007 05:20:27 -0400, torhu <fake at address.dude> wrote:

> I'm also having the same problems with my D projects.  I just added  
> 'doesn't compile with 1.011' to the readme.txt for one project.
>
> Since branches has been suggested before, and nothing has happened, I  
> have a suggestion that might mean less extra work for Walter, but still  
> improve the situation a bit:  Release a version marked as a beta or  
> release candidate before the final version.
>
> If the beta version is accepted by the community (all very informal,  
> what 'accepted' means will have to be Walter's call in each case), it  
> can be renamed, or even just reannounced as a final version.  The zip  
> file should at least be renamed, even if the compiler's version number  
> is not changed (in order to avoid the risks of a recompiling and  
> repackaging).
>

This might be a decent compromise. At least small oversights can be fixed  
up without affecting regular D users. Beta testers (probably those testing  
their libraries) can try things out and report any issues.

There could be a standard beta time, such as one week after the latest  
beta release, before the public version and release announcement.

Beta tests could possibly only be accessible via a new separate page and  
are not posted to the announce NG. Perhaps there could be a separate  
digitalmars.D.beta group for that instead, also for discussing beta issues.

- Chris