Unstructured Versioning vs Semantic Versioning

Developers might use unstructured versioning in small-scale, personal, or experimental projects where simplicity and flexibility outweigh the need for standardized communication about changes meets developers should use semantic versioning when publishing libraries, apis, or any software with dependencies to ensure clear communication about changes and compatibility. Here's our take.

Unstructured Versioning

Nice Pick

Developers might use unstructured versioning in small-scale, personal, or experimental projects where simplicity and flexibility outweigh the need for standardized communication about changes

Pros

• It can be suitable for internal tools with limited external users, or during rapid prototyping phases where frequent, minor updates occur without breaking changes
• Related to: semantic-versioning, release-management

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

Semantic Versioning

Developers should use Semantic Versioning when publishing libraries, APIs, or any software with dependencies to ensure clear communication about changes and compatibility

Pros

• It is essential in ecosystems like npm, PyPI, or Maven, where automated tools rely on version numbers to manage updates and resolve dependencies safely
• Related to: version-control, dependency-management

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

The Verdict

These tools serve different purposes. Unstructured Versioning is a methodology while Semantic Versioning is a concept. We picked Unstructured Versioning based on overall popularity, but your choice depends on what you're building.

The Bottom Line

Unstructured Versioning wins

Based on overall popularity. Unstructured Versioning is more widely used, but Semantic Versioning excels in its own space.