Can anybody please explain what is the meaning of PRE, SNAPSHOTS, GA and Current for spring-boot versions?
Below is a screenshot of versions shown on spring-boot website.
Also, latest version contains M3 appended in end just before PRE.
Please help!
GA
GA as in general availability are versions that have been released to the public. A version that has had this status for once will never change its contents.
CURRENT
The most recent GA release that should usually be used for all new projects.
PRE
pre release versions will also not change but are only released to let developers test the features of an upcoming GA release. They might contain some bugs that will be fixed in a later pre release of the same version (i.e. bugs in 2.0.0 M1 will probably be fixed in 2.0.0 M2). M is short for milestone.
SNAPSHOT
Same as PRE but this version is usually built every night to include the most recent changes. See this question on more about snapshots. Might also contain bugs.
Version life cycle
The usual life cycle of a single version would be as follows on the example of version 1.0.0:
1.0.0 SNAPSHOTthose releases are built every day, replacing earlier snapshots of the same version1.0.0 M1once a development milestone was reached a single build is made that is calledM#. For the next milestone#is increased by one. Milestones are never overwritten. Snapshots are continued to be made every day.1.0.0 GAonce the last milestone was released and the latest snapshot is feature complete and all known bugs are fixed thegeneral availabilityrelease is made. From there on no other Releases of the same version are made, i.e. no more snapshots or milestones.
If bugs are found in a GA release the last version number is increased by one (i.e. 1.0.0 to 1.0.1 and a new release cycle is being started).