Tooling Maintenance Policy
Release Naming
Each release will adopt Semantic Versioning.
We will publish release notes of all changes for each tool. You can find these on GitHub:
- JupyterLab Releases
- Visual Studio Code Releases
- RStudio Releases
- Cloud Development Environment Base Releases
Release communications will summarise changes and provide a link to the relevant release note containing all changes.
In the Control Panel, there has historically been a loose naming convention for tooling releases. Going forward, we will adopt a clearer naming convention in the form:
[release x.y.z] Tool Name x.y.z
For example, for Visual Studio Code, this will appear as:
[vscode 2.3.0] Visual Studio Code 2.3.0
Semantic versions will match across both the GitHub repository and the Control Panel.
Release Schedule
Our Release Schedule is outlined below.
High-Importance Security Patching
- Timing: As needed, outside the regular release schedule.
- Process: Critical security patches will be applied and released immediately upon identification.
Release Cadence
Monthly Releases
- Goal: Ensure each software image (Visual Studio Code, JupyterLab, RStudio) is updated with the latest features, patches, and security improvements.
- Release Date: Scheduled issues are set to maintain the images on the first of every month.
Release Latest Image (Version n)
- A new image (version
n) is created, tested, and ready for deployment. This becomes thelatestrelease. - Version
nis made available to customers to deploy in the Control Panel.
Deprecated Image (Version n-1) Remains
- The previous image (version
n-1) is deprecated and remains available and supported. - Updates for
n-1cease, but support is still available.
Retired Image (Version n-2)
- The older image (version
n-2) is retired and no longer available for download or use.
Version Availability
- At any time, only the Latest (
n) and Previous (n-1) versions are supported and available. - Customers will be informed about the discontinuation of version
n-2upon the release of versionn. - Version
n-1andn-2can be anyMAJOR,MINOR, orPATCHupdate as per Semantic Versioning definitions.
Release Communications
Communications for each new release will be sent to the #ask-analytical-platform channel. An example of this communication can be seen here.