What’s on the Semantic Versioning poster
The rule, 3 worked examples, and the mistake everyone makes.
- MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH — breaking, feature, fix.
- ^1.2.3 allows <2.0.0 · ~1.2.3 allows <1.3.0
- A bug fix = 1.2.3 → 1.2.4
- A new, backwards-compatible feature = 1.2.3 → 1.3.0
- A breaking change = 1.2.3 → 2.0.0
- Common mistake: Treating ^0.2.3 like ^1.2.3 → Below 1.0.0, ^ only allows patch updates
1.0.0 is a promise, not a milestone. It says the public API is stable enough to break only deliberately.
Questions about the Semantic Versioning poster
- What’s on the Semantic Versioning poster?
- The rule, 3 worked examples, and the mistake everyone makes. MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH — breaking, feature, fix.; ^1.2.3 allows <2.0.0 · ~1.2.3 allows <1.3.0; A bug fix = 1.2.3 → 1.2.4; A new, backwards-compatible feature = 1.2.3 → 1.3.0; A breaking change = 1.2.3 → 2.0.0; Common mistake: Treating ^0.2.3 like ^1.2.3 → Below 1.0.0, ^ only allows patch updates. 1.0.0 is a promise, not a milestone. It says the public API is stable enough to break only deliberately.
- Who is the Semantic Versioning poster for?
- Semantic Versioning belongs to the Computing section rather than to a school year, because computing is not something one grade owns. Anyone learning languages can pin it up — a beginner, a student mid-course, or someone revising years later.
- When should you use the Semantic Versioning poster?
- Breaking change means major. That is the only rule, and the one most often broken. A wall chart earns its place by being glanceable from where the work is happening, so Semantic Versioning belongs on the wall where that computing work actually happens, within glancing distance, rather than filed away.
- What other posters go with Semantic Versioning?
- REST API Design, Bash Scripting and Error Handling sit alongside Semantic Versioning in the Computing section. Printed together they make a wall rather than a single sheet, which is how a reference set actually gets used.REST API DesignBash ScriptingError Handling
- Is the Semantic Versioning poster free to download and print?
- Yes. Semantic Versioning downloads as a free PDF with no account, no email and no watermark, like everything else in the Computing section. Print as many copies as you like for a home, a classroom, a library or a tutoring group; reselling the file is the only thing the licence rules out.Read the licence
- What size does the Semantic Versioning poster print at?
- Semantic Versioning is a vector PDF laid out for US Letter, and prints on A4 with Fit to page — the same file, no separate download. Because every mark on it is drawn rather than photographed, it stays sharp enlarged to A3, A2 or A1 at a copy shop. Colour carries emphasis only, so a greyscale print of Semantic Versioning loses nothing.Printing guide
Related posters
Charts that sit alongside Semantic Versioning on the same wall.
Browse every Computing poster, or start from the full catalogue.