Upcoming releases
| Version | Description | ETA |
| 2.0.1 | Bugfix version | Around 8/1/2011 |
Release strategy
Historically, h5py has been averaging somewhere between 4 and 7 months between releases. Part of the reason for this relatively slow pace is developer availability, given that the project owner and most contributors are professional scientists with other obligations. A problem of comparable magnitude is the complexity of both HDF5 and h5py, which makes small enhancements and bug fixes more difficult as they can trigger problems in distantly related parts of the code.
Part of the refactoring work done for h5py 2.0 was to change the "back end" of the library into a much simpler, less tightly coupled design. The descoping of the project to focus only on HDF5 1.8.X versions has also greatly simplified both the library and installation code, and reduced the number of configurations which have to be tested.
With these changes in mind, as of h5py 2.0.0 we are attempting to move to a more rapid development strategy. Bugfixes will be handled in a "stable" branch which will allow regular patchlevel (2.0.X) releases roughly every six weeks. Trunk development will accept enhancements continually, with minor releases every few months incorporating these new features.
What releases are supported
In order to make the best use of developer manpower, there is presently a single development track. In other words, once 2.1.0 is released, there will generally be no further releases for 2.0.X.
Having said that, stability and compatibility are some of our highest concerns. Please contact the h5py maintainers (h5py at googlegroups) if your package is having problems with a new version of h5py.
Versioning convention
As of h5py 2.0.0, versioning will follow these broad conventions:
Point releases
Point releases (e.g. 2.0.X) are for bugfixes only. Existing code which uses h5py should not break.
Minor releases
Minor releases (e.g. 2.X.0) may:
- introduce new features
- deprecate existing features
- remove features previously deprecated
Any changes which may break user code will be thoroughly documented in the release notes.
Major releases
Major releases (e.g. X.0.0) may implement any change, including changes to supported versions of Python, HDF5, or substantial revisions to the h5py API.
No major releases are on the horizon at the moment.
