Prereleaselabels

PreReleaseLabels are textual identifiers appended to software version numbers to indicate that a release is not yet final and may contain unfinished features or bugs. They are commonly used in semantic versioning schemes, where a version takes the form MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH-PRERELEASE. The prerelease tag comes after a hyphen and can contain one or more identifiers separated by periods. Examples include alpha, beta, rc (release candidate), and custom tags such as dev or eap.

In semantic versioning, a release with a prerelease label is considered newer than a corresponding release without the label but older than the next patch version. Tools that manage package dependencies, such as npm, NuGet, Maven, and pip, typically exclude prerelease versions from automated upgrades unless explicitly allowed. This prevents accidental use of unstable code in production environments.

Common labels reflect stages of software readiness. Alpha versions are early, experimental builds; beta releases are more stable but still subject to change; release candidates are near final and intended for final testing. Some projects use additional qualifiers like rc1, rc2 to track multiple candidate iterations. Custom tags may indicate platform-specific builds or internal milestones.

Best practice guidelines recommend that prerelease labels be appended only after a release is officially targeted for distribution and that they are removed in the subsequent stable release. Clear documentation of the meaning of each label helps developers and users understand the maturity level of a version. Consistent use of prerelease labels also simplifies automation, such as CI pipelines that automatically deploy alpha or beta builds to testing mirrors but restrict stable releases to production servers.

Overall, PreReleaseLabels provide a standardized way to signal software readiness, control dependency resolution, and maintain clean release pipelines.