Approximate Release Version Release Date?

[Mythran101]

I haven't heard anything in a long time about any new versions of this being released nor whether it will be moved any time soon from beta to release. Since we normally do not incorporate non-release builds of libraries and other resources into our production applications, I'd like to know if this will be released anytime soon? If not, I guess I'll be using a non-release version library into our production environment after all.

[RobSmyth]

I'm also interested in knowing what the release policy is and when/if there will be a stable release (that is .. not beta).

I see 34M download but it looks like all releases to date have been beta and the project has 568 open issues. Last release was a couple of years ago. So it makes me nervous to consider it for production.

The 'beta' versioning is kind of a red flag for anybody looking at the SBOM. :-}

Thanks.

[RobSmyth]

Since posting above I did find a Microsoft tutorial with the notice:

System.CommandLine is currently in PREVIEW, and this documentation is for version 2.0 beta 4. Some information relates to prerelease product that may be substantially modified before it's released. Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied, with respect to the information provided here.

That makes is clearer, the project is in initial development and not production ready. The project has 34M downloads, has been in use for a few years, and is documented on Microsoft's site. I feels to me like it is a 1.0.0 with a warning that there may be a 2.0.0 (breaking changes) later.

Understanding the release plan would be great.

Suggestions/feedback:

It would be nice to copy the above message so it appears in Nuget and on the GitHub page. The version 2.0.0-beta suggests that a 1.x.x version was released so 2.0.0-beta looks like it is a breaking change after a prior stable 1.x.x release.

Semantic versioning reserves 0.x.x builds are for initial dev (See Semantic Versioning spec 4). It would be nice to consider that for next project.

[Balkoth]

V2 is in beta since forever and recently they reset again. So for the foreseeable future there might be no stable release. No one knows.

If i had not invested anything into System.CommandLine i would check if there is another stable command line library you want to use for the time being. Using V2 now and then upgrading to what the dev team envisions next has been a rewrite of depending code throughout the betas. I would strongly advise against it.

Ah yeah and the docs are out of date too...

[Mythran101]

Unfortunately, this is the best (IMO) command-line parser framework that I know of (I've tried a bunch, but this one actually fits the bill PERFECTLY for our console applications' needs). Again, unfortunately, since it's marked as preview and no official release in sight, we are hesitant to use this in our production environment(s). :(

[BenjaminMichaelis]

The goal is to make a stable release - #2338

You can watch the progress compared to main here: https://github.com/dotnet/command-line-api/compare/main-powderhouse

[RobSmyth]

Thanks for that Ben,

I do appreciate your responding, but just to give feedback of how it looks from the outside ...

Progress is not visible: The link you gave seems to be a list of changes/commits. I see activity but cannot see "progress" as there is no clear goal. On that link, it looks like no activity for the 5 months.

Not confidence inspiring: The last beta was more than 2 years ago and first 2.0.0 beta was more that 4 years ago. In close to 5 years, since 1st NuGet published, there has never been a release.

Versioning confusing: The versioning does not help as we have had a major bump without a prior release. Hence we do not know if the target release is 2.0.0 or 5.0.0. :-( How does anybody externally know if there will be a 2.x.x release?

I'll be very interested to revisit it when it is released. Looks promising, best of luck.

[KalleOlaviNiemitalo]

On that link, it looks like no activity for the 5 months.

That's because it lists the oldest changes first, and loads newer ones only if you click "Load more commits". In contrast, https://github.com/dotnet/command-line-api/commits/main-powderhouse shows the newest changes first.

I presume https://github.com/orgs/dotnet/projects/381 or https://github.com/dotnet/command-line-api/milestone/1 should be a way to track what still needs to be done; but neither of those currently seems usable for that.

[RobSmyth]

Thx @KalleOlaviNiemitalo