preRC

preRC is a term used in software development to describe a pre-release build that occurs before the Release Candidate (RC) in a project's release lifecycle. It is used to test major changes, verify compatibility, and gather feedback before the RC stage.

Labeling and scope: projects that use preRC may tag versions such as 2.3.0-preRC1 or preRC-1. These suffixes are not standardized and some teams replace them with beta or alpha labels. A preRC build is typically earlier and potentially less stable than a Release Candidate.

Relationship to other stages: In many workflows, preRC follows any alpha or beta releases and precedes the RC. The exact ordering and naming vary by project, but the goal is to resolve outstanding issues before final preparation for release.

Purpose and risk: The primary purpose of a preRC is to validate changes in broader environments and to collect feedback from testers. PreRC builds may be distributed to a limited audience and often carry greater risk of instability, incomplete features, or missing documentation compared with RC builds.

See also: Release candidate, alpha, beta, software release lifecycle.