versionsexpand

Versionsexpand is a concept in software versioning and dependency management that describes expanding abstract version specifications into concrete candidate versions. It is not tied to a single project but covers methods used by package managers and build tools to reason about possible versions.

Mechanism: An input such as >=1.3.0 <1.5.0 or 1.2.x is expanded by querying a repository index to collect available versions, then filtering and sorting them according to semantic versioning rules. The result is a deterministic list of versions that satisfy the constraint, optionally excluding pre-releases depending on policy. Some implementations also consider platform, architecture, or build metadata during expansion.

Applications: Used in dependency resolution to define a search space for solvers, in test matrices to cover representative versions, and in release planning to assess compatibility. It can also support tooling that generates changelogs or compatibility reports.

Limitations and considerations: Expanding large version sets can be costly and may require caching or indexing. Dependence on repository metadata can make expansions stale as new versions are published. Variations in rules for pre-releases or build metadata can cause inconsistencies. Practices such as locking, pinning, and caching are common remedies.

Example and relation: Expanding >=1.3.0 <1.5.0 could yield 1.3.0, 1.3.2, 1.4.0, 1.4.2. Versionsexpand relates to semantic versioning, version ranges, dependency resolution, and lockfiles.