SemVer
The semver package provides the ability to work with Semantic Versions in Go. Specifically it provides the ability to:
- Parse semantic versions
- Sort semantic versions
- Check if a semantic version fits within a set of constraints
- Optionally work with a vprefix
Parsing Semantic Versions
To parse a semantic version use the NewVersion function. For example,
    v, err := semver.NewVersion("1.2.3-beta.1+build345")
If there is an error the version wasn't parseable. The version object has methods to get the parts of the version, compare it to other versions, convert the version back into a string, and get the original string. For more details please see the documentation.
Sorting Semantic Versions
A set of versions can be sorted using the sort
package from the standard library. For example,
    raw := []string{"1.2.3", "1.0", "1.3", "2", "0.4.2",}
    vs := make([]*semver.Version, len(raw))
	for i, r := range raw {
		v, err := semver.NewVersion(r)
		if err != nil {
			t.Errorf("Error parsing version: %s", err)
		}
		vs[i] = v
	}
	sort.Sort(semver.Collection(vs))
Checking Version Constraints
Checking a version against version constraints is one of the most featureful parts of the package.
    c, err := semver.NewConstraint(">= 1.2.3")
    if err != nil {
        // Handle constraint not being parseable.
    }
    v, _ := semver.NewVersion("1.3")
    if err != nil {
        // Handle version not being parseable.
    }
    // Check if the version meets the constraints. The a variable will be true.
    a := c.Check(v)
Basic Comparisons
There are two elements to the comparisons. First, a comparison string is a list
of comma separated and comparisons. These are then separated by || separated or
comparisons. For example, ">= 1.2, < 3.0.0 || >= 4.2.3" is looking for a
comparison that's greater than or equal to 1.2 and less than 3.0.0 or is
greater than or equal to 4.2.3.
The basic comparisons are:
- =: equal (aliased to no operator)
- !=: not equal
- >: greater than
- <: less than
- >=: greater than or equal to
- <=: less than or equal to
Note, according to the Semantic Version specification pre-releases may not be API compliant with their release counterpart. It says,
A pre-release version indicates that the version is unstable and might not satisfy the intended compatibility requirements as denoted by its associated normal version.
SemVer comparisons without a pre-release value will skip pre-release versions.
For example, >1.2.3 will skip pre-releases when looking at a list of values
while >1.2.3-alpha.1 will evaluate pre-releases.
Hyphen Range Comparisons
There are multiple methods to handle ranges and the first is hyphens ranges. These look like:
- 1.2 - 1.4.5which is equivalent to- >= 1.2, <= 1.4.5
- 2.3.4 - 4.5which is equivalent to- >= 2.3.4, <= 4.5
Wildcards In Comparisons
The x, X, and * characters can be used as a wildcard character. This works
for all comparison operators. When used on the = operator it falls
back to the pack level comparison (see tilde below). For example,
- 1.2.xis equivalent to- >= 1.2.0, < 1.3.0
- >= 1.2.xis equivalent to- >= 1.2.0
- <= 2.xis equivalent to- <= 3
- *is equivalent to- >= 0.0.0
Tilde Range Comparisons (Patch)
The tilde (~) comparison operator is for patch level ranges when a minor
version is specified and major level changes when the minor number is missing.
For example,
- ~1.2.3is equivalent to- >= 1.2.3, < 1.3.0
- ~1is equivalent to- >= 1, < 2
- ~2.3is equivalent to- >= 2.3, < 2.4
- ~1.2.xis equivalent to- >= 1.2.0, < 1.3.0
- ~1.xis equivalent to- >= 1, < 2
Caret Range Comparisons (Major)
The caret (^) comparison operator is for major level changes. This is useful
when comparisons of API versions as a major change is API breaking. For example,
- ^1.2.3is equivalent to- >= 1.2.3, < 2.0.0
- ^1.2.xis equivalent to- >= 1.2.0, < 2.0.0
- ^2.3is equivalent to- >= 2.3, < 3
- ^2.xis equivalent to- >= 2.0.0, < 3
Validation
In addition to testing a version against a constraint, a version can be validated against a constraint. When validation fails a slice of errors containing why a version didn't meet the constraint is returned. For example,
    c, err := semver.NewConstraint("<= 1.2.3, >= 1.4")
    if err != nil {
        // Handle constraint not being parseable.
    }
    v, _ := semver.NewVersion("1.3")
    if err != nil {
        // Handle version not being parseable.
    }
    // Validate a version against a constraint.
    a, msgs := c.Validate(v)
    // a is false
    for _, m := range msgs {
        fmt.Println(m)
        // Loops over the errors which would read
        // "1.3 is greater than 1.2.3"
        // "1.3 is less than 1.4"
    }
Contribute
If you find an issue or want to contribute please file an issue or create a pull request.
